


If It Ain't Broke

by LexiPearl



Series: Changes [1]
Category: Wynonna Earp (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - High School, Angst, Break Up, Breaking Up & Making Up, Cop Nicole Haught, Fluff, Hook-Up, One Night Stands, Smut, Teacher Waverly Earp, Teen Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-25
Updated: 2019-08-09
Packaged: 2020-07-19 17:54:41
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 35,352
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19978132
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LexiPearl/pseuds/LexiPearl
Summary: Waverly and Nicole have been dating since Waverly's Sophomore year, Nicole's Junior year in high school. Now each a year older they have decided to break up prior to Nicole leaving for college and Waverly starting her senior year of high school to learn themselves as individual people. Taking the break was supposed to be a mutual agreement...but someone has second thoughts a bit too late. How will Waverly navigate her senior year without Nicole and how will Nicole navigate her first year of college without Waverly. Fights will ensue, rash decisions will be made and hearts will be broken, but no relationship is without its struggles. As the saying goes, don't try to fix what ain't broken...End of high school beginning of college AU





	1. Find Our Way Back

**Author's Note:**

> I'll apologize now for any grammatical or spelling errors. 
> 
> Also, I've been writing this fic for about a month. I've decided I'm only going to post fics that are 95% complete, as nothing is more frustrating than getting invested in a story only to have the author/creator lose interest or simply just stop updating the fic. I understand life happens, trust me I have 4 month old at home and I'm going back to work in a few weeks. This fic likely won't reach more than 13/14 chapters, if that. My plan was to always start a series with this one which is likely what I'll do.
> 
> Yes, I know, I've left Stethoscopes and Lapdances kind of hanging seemingly unfinished. It's finished, that final chapter will be an epilogue I'll post eventually. Yes, I know I just got through saying I don't like when fics aren't complete and I'm perpetrator number one in this case...shit happens, sorry.
> 
> Enjoy! Leave some love... or polite hate, lol.

“Maybe we should see other people…”

“I was actually going to suggest the same thing…”

“Really?” Nicole said surprised, to be honest, and also a bit sad. This isn't the reaction she thought she'd get when she suggested to Waverly that they see other people. 

She was heading off to college after the summer, about two hours away, and Waverly would just be starting her senior year of high school. Wynonna had graduated the year before and was already up at the same university. Since her and Nicole had become pretty tight while in school today, the older brunette had agreed to being roommates with the redhead once she started school. 

“Yeah I mean, I don't want you to miss out on any college experiences because of me… I don't want to hold you back from that”, Waverly said sadly. “I wouldn't want you to resent me later on...if we...if we find our way back to each other”, she said cautiously trying to read Nicole's face. Would she even want to get back together? What if she meets some really mature, attractive, smart and funny college girl and decides she doesn't want to go backwards to her simple little high school girlfriend, what if she realizes she can do better than me and permanently moves on, Waverly agonizingly thought.

“Waves you could never hold me back. In fact, if it wasn't for you I wouldn't feel confident enough to even go off to college two hours away from everything and everyone. You've given me the strength and courage to pursue college and the academy”, she said warmly. “And of course baby, we'll always find our way back to each other. This...this break of sorts is just we can experience navigating lives on our own, a chance for us to learn everything we can and bring it back to our relationship so it's stronger than ever, so we can grow as individual people. Plus, you should have fun your senior year without being tied down to some old college kid..party and have fun with Chrissy”.

“Is that what you want to do?... Party and have fun with college girls and not have to worry about your young, little high school girlfriend?”, Waverly whispered in fear of Nicole’s answer.

“No! Never, Waves. That's not what I meant at all. You're so much more than a ‘little high school girl' and you know that. I love you, Waves. I'm just trying to do the best thing for both of us...and our relationship and future. I don't plan to go looking for college girls...I hope you know that “, the older girl said flustered, hurt and a little irritated that Waverly didn't know her better than that.

“I'm sorry, Nic. I'm just, I'm just scared I guess. Scared this break or whatever will backfire and I'll end up alone, without you”, she said weakly.

“C'mere, baby”, Nicole said as she pulled Waverly into a tight hug and softly kissed her forehead. “If you're really having doubts about this, we don't have to do it”, Nicole tried to say confidently. But she knew this break was something they would both need, it was coming sooner or later and she didn’t want to lose her nerve to stick to her guns about it now.

“No, I think we should. But can we at least have the summer together?”, Waverly asked hopefully.

“Of course, baby”, she said still tightly hugging the younger girl and smiling into her hair.

\-----------

Summer came and went; faster than they both would have liked, way too fast. 

They had agreed to spend all summer together doing the things they loved, which included each other... alot. Each time the made love, except for the occasional rushed encounters whether it be in one of their cars, the movie theater or a public place, they spent the time worshipping each others bodies like it would be their last time. Making sure to each have at least two orgasms, and sometimes three, before the love making ended. And it always ended with Waverly being held safely in Nicole's arms, reminiscent of their first time together, when Waverly gave her virginity to Nicole. (Nicole had lost hers the year before at her old high school to her middle school crush).

**  
1:03pm Waverly Earp: Tonight's the night. 

Nicole had read and reread the text she had gotten from Waverly at least 10 times. Although it wouldn't be her first time having sex, it was Waverly's, and she was nervous for her and even more nervous about making love to someone for their first time. It was just as big a deal for her as it was for Waverly. Taking the girl you loves virginity should not be taken lightly, and she definitely wasn't taking the responsibility lightly. 

It was the summer going into Nicole's senior year and Waverly's junior year, they had been together since the start of Waverly’s sophomore year and Nicole’s junior year and they were in the last week of school. They had been talking about it for months, Waverly finally working up the courage to mention she had been thinking about it to Nicole, not sure if the older girl would want such a huge responsibility. Nicole's aunt and uncle were going out of town for the weekend and she and Waverly would have the house to themselves. 

Nicole, ever the gentlewoman, never pressed or brought up sex to Waverly as she knew she wasn't ready. She had long since resolved that she would wait until Waverly mentioned it, spending some nights after heated make out sessions with her hand in her shorts looking at some of the slightly risque pictures Waverly would send her. No full blown nudes, just underwear and a strategically placed arm, or pillow, or book, or Nicole's basketball or softball jerseys. She'd have to use her imagination to picture the covered areas but that was ok. She loved Waverly and never wanted to push her into something she was uncomfortable with or just not ready to do, including sending her girlfriend completely naked pictures of herself.

Waverly had came over that night trying to downplay how nervous she was but Nicole could tell, she was always able to read Waverly easily. They had talked plenty about what Waverly could expect it to feel like, Nicole reassuring her she would be gentle and listen to her and they could stop whenever it felt like too much to Waverly. Whether it be too much pain just too soon. Nicole even mentioned that Waverly didn't have to reciprocate if she wasn't ready and Nicole of course wouldn't push her to.

The evening started with pizza and soda, they both took a shot of whiskey before they started eating to calm their nerves. After pizza Waverly asked if they could go to Nicole's room to which she immediately replied yes. Nicole took a hold of both of Waverly's hands kissing the knuckles and slow walking them to her room downstairs, a room and location she was thankful to her aunt and uncle for letting her have as it was not on the same floor as their room.

When they entered the room Waverly immediately noticed the roses, candles, soft mood music playing - Boyz II Men's I'll Make Love to You - and the scent of vanilla and coconut gently wafting through the room. The lights were dimmed and there were fairy lights lined along Nicole's queen bedframe and headboard. Waverly teared up and she saw all the effort Nicole put into making sure this was a special night for Waverly. 

“Baby, are you ok?”, Nicole asked concerned when she saw Waverly wiping at her face.

“Yes, yes, I'm sorry. It's just so, so sweet of you to go through all this trouble for me”, Waverly said through glossy eyes.

“It's no trouble, Waves. I wanted to make this night as special as possible for you. I-I really care about you”, she said with genuine love. Although they had been together for a year, they had yet to say the L word. They knew they both felt it, they were both just too nervous to say it.

Waverly grabbed Nicole's hand and walked her over to the edge of the bed where they both sat down. They looked into each other's eyes for what felt like an hour before Waverly leaned forward and pulled Nicole into a passionate kiss.

“I'm ready”, she said a bit out of breath as she pulled away from Nicole and kicked off her shoes. 

“Ok”, Nicole smiled and she followed suit and removed her shoes as well.

Waverly crawled backwards onto the bed and Nicole followed, hovering over her before placing a soft kiss on her waiting lips. As Nicole's hands both supported her weight on either side of Waverly's head, Waverly started to unbutton her own shirt, leaving it open, before she moved to unbuckle, unbutton and unzip Nicole's jeans as they continued to kiss. Nicole used her right hand to unzip Waverly's skirt before she ghosted it over Waverly's exposed abs. 

Waverly jumped at the contact causing Nicole to immediately remove her hand and ask if she was ok.

“I am. Sorry, it just surprised me is all”, she said with apologetic eyes and she saw the concern and hesitation on Nicole's face.

She pulled Nicole back down to continue the kiss and snaked her hands in her red hair as she tried to calm her ever growing excited nerves.

Sensing her anxiousness, Nicole said, “hey, no rush remember. We can take our time and do this slowly”, mostly for Waverly's comfort but also to ease her own nerves. 

“Sorry, sorry. I just really like you Nic and I've wanted this for so long. I guess I'm just a little eager”, she said shyly. 

“Ok, baby. Can I take your clothes off?”, Nicole asked confidently. 

And with an eager head nod, Waverly sat up and helped Nicole remove her shirt. Nicole hesitated when she had to remove the younger girl's bra, realizing this would be the first time she saw Waverly's bare breasts. She reaches around and unclasped the material and slowly slid the red lace bra off her shoulders and tossed it off the bed, all while Waverly looks at her with lust filled, nervous eyes.

“God you're beautiful, Waverly. So, so beautiful”, she said almost out of breath.

Waverly smiled and looked at Nicole for permission to remove her shirt as she reached for the hem of the older girl’s shirt. Nicole leaned back on her heels and helped Waverly remove her shirt. When the younger girl first saw her black sports bra and toned abs, she gasped and reached out to run her fingers along the well defined abs. The older girl removed her own bra and watched in awe as Waverly stared at her chest with excitement. 

She ushered her to lie back down and returned to hovering over her, their bare chests now rubbing against one another, lighting a fire in Waverly she’d never felt before and completely taking over Nicole's senses. 

They returned to kissing deeply, tongues wrestling for dominance, nails digging into pale skin and hands lightly caressing tanned skin. Nicole moved to give open mouthed kisses to Waverly's neck, causing the younger woman to squirm in excitement and writhe in pleasure. The older girl's right hand moved to trail down the younger girl's side before ghosting over the top hem of her skirt. She broke the kiss to stare into beautiful hazel eyes before she gave one last soft kiss before descending the younger girl's body. She stops to run her tongue over and around full tanned breasts and light brown, very erect nipples. At this new sensation, Waverly throws her head back into the silk pillowcase and brings her hands up to run them through red hair and over strong shoulders while forcing her chest out further into Nicole’s mouth in search of more pleasure. 

The older girl continues to ravish the breasts in front of her. Her nervousness gone as it is replaced with excitement in the knowledge that she will finally have Waverly, finally be able to be inside her and finally able to make her scream her name as she comes in her mouth and on her fingers.

Nicole moves again and looks up to Waverly as she hovers over her pubic bone silently asking permission to remove her skirt and panties. 

Waverly nods confidently, but Nicole can still see the slight apprehension in her eyes. She hesitates but moves the skirt down to reveal the sexiest red lace thong she has ever seen. Waverly blushes as she see Nicole's excited expression. She begins to breathe heavier and dawns a face of intrigue as Nicole goes to pull the red thong down, but not before first placing a soft kiss on the darker red spot of the thong that is slowly getting bigger.

Waverly lifts her hips and Nicole slides the thong down and off her legs. Once the girl below her is completely naked, she pauses to admire the beauty beneath her and then she quickly stands and removes her remaining jeans and boy shorts before climbing back on the bed and hovering over Waverly. 

She leans in to kiss the younger girl and can feel her trembling against her lips. She asks, “are you ok, Waverly, do you want to stop?”

“No, baby, I’m ok”, she says as she pulls Nicole into another passionate kiss.

As the desire grows, so does the younger girl’s excitement and she is unable to stop her hips from moving up in search of friction and relief. Nicole, realises how ready Waverly is and slowly drags her right index finger down the younger girl’s body stopping just short of brown curls.

Waverly breaks the kiss to look her in the eye and softly whispers, ‘please, Nic’.

Nicole brings her finger back up to her mouth, sucking her finger in her own mouth making sure its wet enough before returning it to the brown curls. She pushes in slowly, noticing the ample amount of wetness already there as she continues holding eye contact with Waverly the entire time. The tightness and warmth are enough to completely cloud Nicole's mind momentarily. 

They gasped in unison as she begins pumping her finger in and out. After a few minutes of slow pumping and reassuring moans, the younger girl winces after one particular thrust goes a bit too deep as she feels her tight center stretch and the older girl stills her movements at the action.

“Ow...ouch, that hurt”, the younger girl says through a surprised awkward half smile.

“I think your hymen just broke, baby. You're officially no longer a virgin”, the older girl says with a proud, excited smile.

Waverly chuckles and buries her face in Nicole's neck, shyly happy. 

“Are you ok, do you want me to keep going?”, Nicole asks.

“Yes, and could you maybe add another...finger”, she asks shyly.

Nicole simply smiles and returns to pumping her fingers in and out of the younger girls tight, wet center, subtly adding another finger as she goes. They continue like this, panting into each other's ears as Waverly holds Nicole close while Nicole buries her face into the younger girl's neck all while keeping her pace. They've picked up their pace a bit, the bed slightly rocking with Nicole's thrusts and Waverly's hip rolling. Before she knows it Waverly is coming in Nicole's hand and fingers sighing out her release with her head thrown back into the pillow and Nicole nuzzling her neck.

“Ughhh”, Waverly softly says as her first orgasms courses through her body.

Nicole lifts her head from its spot on Waverly's neck to stare into hazel eyes. “Wow, baby”, she says wearing a huge smile. “That was, you are amazing”.

“Oh my God. If every orgasm feels like that I want to have them forever”, she says through a satisfied smile.

“When you love each other, baby...that's how they feels”, she cautiously replies.

“Baby...I-I…”, the younger girl stammers.

“I love you, Waverly!”, Nicole blurts out. “I know you feel it too, but you don't have to say it, but I wanted to tell you, you know, now seemed like the right, perfect time”.

“Nic...I-I love you too”, the younger girl shares through an elated smile.

She pulls the older girl back down for a deep kiss, all tongue and crashing teeth. Nicole situates herself so her thigh is between Waverly and her thigh between hers. She starts to rock slowly onto the younger girl, her hands on either side of her head, she doesn't notice the blood on her fingers currently being smeared on her pillow. She encourages Waverly to rock against her and she begins to grind herself on Waverly's thigh. They continue grinding on each other before they are each picking up their speed and are simultaneously slammed with their orgasms. They moaned into each others mouths while they catch their breaths. Once they finally stop, Nicole pulls back and looks dreamily at Waverly. She's smiling up at her with such love and happiness Nicole almost tears up. Before she can move completely off of the younger girl, Waverly looks down and notices the blood.

“Oh my God! Is that, is that from me?! I'm so sorry!, she's asked and said slightly mortified. 

“Yeah, it is. But it's ok, Waves. It happens the first time. Don't worry, I'll grab a towel. I'll be right back”, she says as she gets up, stark naked and makes her way to the bathroom. Waverly just stares at the perfectly toned athletic body as it saunters into the bathroom. She hadn't had a chance to admire her girlfriend's body before they started, but she was thankful she had the chance now.

“So…?”, Nicole says as she wipes her essence off of Waverly's thigh and Waverly's off of hers.

Now all of a sudden shy, Waverly ducks her head and blushes and says how amazing it was, minus the initial pain of course. 

“I'm glad you enjoyed it, baby. It was amazing for me too”, Nicole adds before climbing back on the bed and kissing the younger girl deeply. They make love a couple more times that night before succumbing to exhaustion. 

**

It was the night before Nicole needed to leave for college and they had spent the entire day with each other. They were cuddled up in Nicole's bed, the younger girl fighting back tears as Nicole brought up what they had agreed upon at the beginning of summer.

“Are you sure you're ok with this, Waverly?”

“Yeah, I guess. It's what we agreed to do..right? Are you still ok with it?”

“I am if your are…”

“Ok then. I guess tonight is our last night as WayHaught…”, the younger girl says though a watery chuckle.

“Baby, we'll always be WayHaught...always”, she says with a kiss to her forehead before they drift off to sleep, holding onto each other as if their lives depended on it.

\---------

“So how do we do this? Do we stop texting and calling?”, the younger girl asked no longer fighting back the tears she'd been holding in for the last week.

“Of course not. But maybe just a few fewer texts and calls throughout the days...otherwise this is going to be that much harder”, Nicole said through her own tears.

Sniffing, Waverly finally said ok. They shared one last, long and heartfelt passionate kiss and tight hug before Nicole left Waverly on the front porch of Gus and Curtis’ house in the early morning hours.


	2. Hi, You Must Be New

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And the real angst begins...

It was the first Friday after Nicole's first week as a college freshman and Waverly as a high school senior. They had spoken everyday, but only good morning and good night texts and a couple calls throughout the week when those texts just weren't enough. They were sticking to limiting communication with one another in an effort to really see this ‘break’ through. It was hard for both of them but they both put on brave faces to not show the other just how much they were hurting.

Nicole had decided surviving her first week of college warranted a celebration. So she decided to go to a party with her and Wynonna's shared roommate, Rosita. Wynonna had left earlier in the day to hangout with a guy from the basketball team, Xavier. 

The party was on campus at a sophomore clubhouse. Nicole had made a few friends outside the basketball team, all of whom would be attending this party.

The party itself is what she'd expected a college party to be, drinking, drinking games, people hooking up all over the place and basically sex on the dance floor poorly disguised as dancing. She made her way into the kitchen to refill her 4th or 5th beer, she couldn't remember, when she ran into someone she hadn't yet seen around campus. 

“Hi, you must be new, I haven't seen your around before. I'm Shae. Are you enjoying my party?”, she asked flirtatiously while extending her hand for a handshake.

“Hey, hi, I'm Nicole. Yeah, I'm-I'm a freshman”, Nicole said caught off guard mostly due to the alcohol in her system. “This is your party? This is a nice house.”

“Do you want to check out the rest of it?”

“Oh, um, I came here with my roommate and I'm sure she'll be looking for me, I don't want to stray too far”, Nicole said nervously. She couldn't be sure but she felt like she was being hit on pretty hard by this girl. This really tall, naturally tan, attractive girl.

“C'mon, there's not much to see. A game room, a small movie room and a handful of bedrooms, mine is the best looking of course”, she said with a well timed wink.

Scratching the back of her neck, Nicole relented. “Uh, ok sure. Just a quick tour though..lead the way”.

The tan girl grabbed Nicole's hand as she lead her through the various rooms in the house, ending the tour in her room.

“And this is my room”.

“You have your own room as a sophomore? How'd you pull that off?”, she asks genuinely surprised. 

“Its a lot more common than you'd think for lower classmen to have their own rooms, but in my case my dad may have pulled some strings after donating a nice chunk to the medical school on campus. I'm studying to be a doctor. What are here her for?”

“Oh, nice. I'm not really sure yet. I'm leaning towards Criminology though, I've always wanted to be a police officer”.

“That's cool. You'll have to show me how to use the handcuffs when you get them”, she said in a low inviting voice and she sat down on the bed. She patted the spot next to her beckoning for Nicole to join her.

Laughing awkwardly, “ Haha um, yeah, I guess. I should probably find my roommate though, I'm sure she's looking for me by now”, she said noticeably nervously.

The party was roaring downstairs, its doubtful anyone in that house was looking for her. 

“Oh, come on. I'm sure she's fine and if not, she can wait for you for a bit. What, are you afraid of me? I promise I won't bite, unless you ask me to”, she said seductively. 

Before Nicole could speak again, she was being pulled down to sit next to the girl. And again before she knew it, the girls lips were on hers, kissing her roughly, but try as she might, she really didn't want to push the girl away. Alcohol is a powerful drug...

She was so wrapped up making out with this girl, she didn't notice her phone lighting up on the floor with text messages and a missed call from Waverly as they collapsed down onto the bed.

She couldn't be too sure, there was a significant amount of alcohol in her system, but sex with this girl was...different. Not bad different at all, just different than sex with Waverly. 'Waverly', she thought. 'Shit, I was supposed to call her back… I'll just call her in the morning'. Sex with this experienced older girl was actually really fun, great even; damn her drunk brain allowing her to enjoy this when she should be calling Waverly. Apart of her wanted to feel guilty for thus drunk hook up but to be fair, her and Waverly were no longer together. Ans although they never discussed hooking up with other people, this one time thing wasn't something she planned on telling the younger girl. It wasn't planned, she was drunk, it means absolutely nothing and it won't happen again. She was used to taking the lead, Waverly had only done it a few times since they started having sex, which she didn't mind, but this girl took charge from the start and drunk Nicole kind of liked it.

\------

Waverly couldn't have prepared herself for how much homework and studying was required for the Advanced Placement classes. If she were to ever become a historian she would need to ace her AP Euro classes with flying colors.

Because of her new grueling schedule she decided to drop cheerleading as she felt that now it was useless as she was no longer cheering for Nicole at the basketball games.

It was her last Friday night football game cheering with the Blue Devils and to celebrate, she let Chrissy and Steph talk her into going to a party. Not an hour in, she's approached by someone she'd never seen before.

“Waverly, right?” The tall, muscular handsome guy asked.

“Yup, that's me. Hi, you must be new. I don't think I've seen you at school before”.

“Yeah. Just transferred. I'll be your new quarterback. Names Champ, Champ Hardy. So what's the most gorgeous girl in the school doing drinking alone?”, he asked with a devilishly sweet grin.

“Oh, welcome to Purg High!” She said excitedly. “You look like you could really help us win some games finally. And I'm not alone, I'm-”, she was cute off before she could finish. 

“Here with your boyfriend? He's a lucky guy”, he said, obviously a little disappointed. 

“No, actually I'm here with my friends. They're around here somewhere. And I uh, I'm single”, she said smiling and blushing. She hadn't said that out loud yet and it felt...weird. 

“Oh well then in that case can I get your number? Maybe we could hang out sometime?”, he said hopefully. 

Before she knew what she was saying, she was suggesting they hang out now, at the party. She noticed a couch earlier that was yet to be claimed by anyone. He happily accepted and bent his arm for her to take as he lead her to the living room. They chatted on the couch for a while before Waverly realized how late it had gotten. 1, she needed to get home before 2am and 2, she hadn't heard from Nicole and wanted to give her a call to say goodnight. 

“Oh wow, its pretty late, I should probably get home”, she said standing from the couch ending their hours longer conversation. 

“Do you have to go, babe? We were having such a great conversation”, he whined.

Not missing the nickname, unsure just yet how she felt about it, she told him she had a curfew she couldn't miss.

“Can I at least drive you home? It is late” he offered. 

“I didn't have much to drink and I drove myself, so I'll be good, but thanks anyway”, she said politely.

“Ok, well then the least I could do as a gentleman is walk to your car. After you m'lady”, he said as he offered her his arm.

At her jeep he told her how much he enjoyed the conversation, to which she replied so did she and they should do it again sometime. He agreed, promising to text before school on Monday before he leaned in and gave her a rather sloppy, wet kiss.

She wasn't sure how to react. She hadn't kissed anyone since Nicole left and they hadn't really talked about dating other people, but she figured she was single and this is what newly single people do, so she reached up and locked her finger behind his neck. He pulled her closer by her hips and pushed his tongue in her mouth, which she wasn't too fond of. She broke the kiss before it got too heated...or messy, and jumped in her jeep waving bye to him.

On her way home she texted then called Nicole when she didn't get an answer. She texted one more time when she got home before falling into bed and going to sleep.

\-----

Champ 12:45pm: Hey Waverly. It was great hanging out last night. Would you like to grab dinner and maybe catch a movie tonight?

Waverly jumped from her spot on the couch when her phone vibrated. Hoping it was Nicole she quickly unlocked her screen, but her heart dropped when she saw Champs name instead of Nicole's. Why hadn't she heard back from her. Was she trying to move on already, did she meet someone else? It's not like Nic to not respond to her within the hour. She decided she'd call her again to make sure she was ok.

"Mm' ello?", came a groggy voice on the other end of the phone.

"Hey-hey Nic. S-sorry, did I wake you?", she asked confused looking at the time on her phone, Nicole never slept this late.

"Oh, shit!", Waverly heard her whisper. 

"Is this a bad time?" she asked confused even further.

"Uh-I, yeah sorry Wa-, can-can I call you back later? I'm not in my ro- I'm kinda busy right now", she said in very low whispered voice.

Waverly thought it was odd Nicole wouldn't say her name and that she clearly wasn't in her room...and she was still sleep midday. "Uh, yeah...ok that's fine", she said a little dejected. "I'll talk to you later, Nic..bye..", she said sadly.

"Yeah, uh bye", she said still whispered voice but rushed. 

"Who was that, Nicky?", Waverly heard an unknown voice say just before Nicole hung up. Her heart sank in her chest. Before she could even process what she heard she was texting Champ back saying yes to dinner and a movie. She threw her phone and couldn't hold back the tears.

\-----

Nicole was shocked awake by her phone ringing. She scrambled to find it buried under the pile of clothes on the floor before answering. It was Waverly, and she was still in Shae's bed...naked...next to a very naked Shae.

She tried to recall what had happened but she couldn't through the fuzz of her hangover and her phone ringing. 

She tried to whisper as she answered the phone in hopes of not waking up the sleeping girl next to her. She barely got through the conversation with Waverly and she knew the younger girl knew something was off about her. She wouldn't even say her name and she was whispering. She really hoped Waverly had hung up before Shae woke up but she wasn't sure. She'd call her back once she got in her dorm.

"Who was that, Nicky?", Shae asked still half asleep. 

"Huh? Oh, that was my uh, friend", she said shortly. 

"A friend has you all flustered like that?", Shae asked curiously. 

"Well actually she's my girlfriend, sorry uh ex-girlfriend", she said a bit ashamed. 

"You make a habit of staying in communication with your ex's?"

"This is different. We broke up before I came up here...she's a senior in high school and we agreed to take a break so we could learn to be without each other. But we still talk since the break up is still...fresh".

"Ahh… high school sweethearts. Let me guess, you guys didn't discuss dating other people…"

Nicole looked down trying to hide her blushing cheeks.

"We didn't not talk about it. We just didn't say if were going to or not". Tired of explaining herself to basically a complete stranger, she got dressed and headed for the door, leaving the girl naked in her own bed. "You know, I actually need to go. I need to shower...and eat...and call Waverly back. Thanks for last night".

"Ok well...it was fun, right? Maybe we can do it again sometime"

"Uh yeah..maybe. See ya", as she headed out the door.

Coming back to her senses, and her hangover fading, she started to feel really shitty. She knew her and Waverly were technically no longer girlfriends, but they hadn't actually talked about dating other people. She wanted to talk to her first before something like last night happened. She just prayed Waverly couldn't tell how awkward she was being and that she hadn't heard Shae.

After a shower and a bite to eat she finally settled down and called Waverly. She answered on the 4th ring with some bite to her tone.

"Hello" , she answered dryly. 

"Uh hey, Waves. Sorry I couldn't talk earlier I was kinda busy", she said cautiously. 

"Busy… yeah you sounded like you had been busy all night", she said flatly. 

"What-what do you mean?" Nicole asked nervously.

"I heard her, Nic... Or should I say Nicky. I take it she's why you didn't answer my texts and calls last night…. You slept with another girl!", she snapped, no longer able to just take subtle jabs. "I knew that's why you wanted to take this stupid break. You wanted to sleep with college girls and your stupid little high school girlfriend would have just gotten in the way of that!", she she shouted through tears.

"Waves I'm so sorry. I didn't mean for it to happen. I was drinking and-and it just happened. Baby, you have to believe me, please. That's not why we agreed to take the break, I promise. It didn't mean anything. Just a stupid drunk mistake. I'm so sorry, Waverly… I love you", she pleaded in a desperate near tears tone.

"You agreed! You agreed to the break Nic! You did! I didn't want to take this stupid break but I could tell you really wanted to so I agreed! I agreed because I'd rather us be apart than you fuck someone else while we're still a couple!", she screamed and hung up the phone. 

Waverly was crushed. Nicole had promised the break wasn't so they could date, or sleep with other people, but obviously she had lied. That was exactly what she was doing. Waverly had never been so heartbroken. 

"Waves! Waverly!", Nicole shouted in the void. Waverly rarely cursed and had never hung up on her. Then again she'd never broken Waverly's heart. She tried to call her back. But it kept going to voicemail. She texted her quickly. 

Nicole 5:16pm: Baby, I'm sorry! I thought you were ok with the break. I'm not making excuses, it was a terrible mistake and accident and I didn't mean to do it. Please, Waves, please call me back. I need to fix this. I love you. 

She threw her phone on the nightstand, flopped on her bed and cried.

\------

"What's up Haughtshit?! Have fun at the party?", the older brunette asked with wiggling eyebrows. 

"Uh, it was ok. Have you talked to Waves today?", she asked nervously. 

"She called while I was in the John earlier. I'll call her back now". As she motioned to dial on her phone.

"Wait-", Nicole tried to say but Wynonna was already on the phone.

"What's up, Babygirl! Hey, hey, calm down, what's wrong? Yeah she's...ok, ok, I'm going now", she said as she looked at Nicole curiously and walked out the door.

Nicole could only swallow hard and imagine that Waverly asked if she was in the room and for the older brunette to leave so she could talk to her. She knew when Wynonna came back she was either getting chewed out or her ass kicked. She waited nervously for her to return.

Wynonna comes back 20 minutes later to Nicole sitting on the edge of her bed with her fingers intertwined. 

Without a word, the brunette closed the door slowly and walked over toward the redhead and punched her.

"What the hell Haught!? You break up with my sister so you could fuck some other girl!? What the hell is wrong with you?!", she shouted. 

Nicole quickly collects herself and tries to defend herself, knowing there's really nothing she can say to redeem herself. She doesn't want to fight the brunette but is prepared to defend herself physically if she has to. She stands face to face with her.

"Wynonna, I was really drunk, I didn't mean to, it meant nothing! That's not why Waverly and I agreed to the break, I'm sorry, I didn't mean for it to happen!", she tries to defend herself. 

"She said she didn't want the break but that you said it would be best! Couldn't you tell she didn't want that?!".

"We talked about it for days, weeks...months even! She said she was ok with it!"

"She lied, obviously! As usual, trying to make everyone but herself happy!"

"What's that supposed to mean?", Nicole asked through a twisted face.

"Don't worry about it, Haught. But you better fix this or start looking for a new roommate", she hissed.

"Wait, what?"

But Wynonna was already out the door. 

\-----

"I'm glad you wanted to do dinner and a movie, babe. I'm still learning where everything around here is but this diner seems cool", Champ said.

"Yeah, me too", she said trying to sound excited. The call with Nicole had only happened 6 hours ago and the wound was still open. She figured going out with Champ would get her mind off of Nicole. That was only somewhat working.

Dinner had been nice. They made enough conversation that Waverly didn't get entirely bored, but she was looking forward to the movie so she could take a break from fake conversation.

After the movie Champ talked her into going to the lookout point that overlooked all of Purgatory. He brought some beers and couple blankets and pillows and helped her into the back of his truck. They sat and drank a few and talked some more before they ended up making out. Waverly knew where this night was going. What would be the most rash decision of her life, she decided to have sex with him, and there wasn't enough alcohol in the young Earp's system to blame the bears for what she was about to do next. She'd never had sex with a guy, just Nicole, so she felt she needed to tell him in case she wasn't as good as he’d expect. She only had one person to say if she was or not and she was most likely buried under some college girl now.

She stopped his kissing with a hand to his chest. Rather than explain her previous relationship, she simply told him she was still a virgin. His eyes would light up at that detail and he couldn't wait to be "her first". Never in a million years did she think she would find herself here, preparing to have sex with someone other than Nicole. She knew he wasn't ideal to have sex with but she needed to forget the pain she was in, the pain Nicole had caused.

"I-I I've never done this before, Champ. Can we go slow?", she nervously asked. Her nervousness wasn't all an act to stroke his ego, she was genuinely nervous considering she'd never had sex with a guy. 

"Of course, babe, whatever you need", he said with a shit eating grin on his face. He jumped off the truck and ripped his clothes off - no build up, no grace, nothing, Waverly thought - before returning to the bed of the truck to help take Waverly's clothes off as well. 

Once her clothes were off he positioned himself between her legs and rolled on a condom. He sloppily kissed her lips then her neck. He was gentle at first, sliding himself into her slowly so she could adjust to his size and the feeling. He quickly picked up his pace vigorously slamming into her as if she weren't a virgin.

She winced at the first feeling of penetration. Then she started to enjoy it. It was much different than with Nicole. He wasn't very gentle, he was heavier on top of her but he filled her more than Nicole's fingers could, even three fingers. She had to stop thinking about Nicole. She didn't want him to see the tears in her eyes, so she shook her head and grabbed his face and kissed him hard.

She moaned into his ear as he pulled her leg over his hip and kissed her neck, thrusting fast and deep, slapping sounds radiating throughout the vast lookout spot, as the truck bounced up and down. He moaned loud and harshly into her ear as he came - she however didn't...not even close. It was over almost as fast as it started. 

"Fuck, babe. That was great. It was pretty great for your first time right?", as he pushed off her and pulled the condom off, checking it and tossing it over the side of the truck. 

"Uh, yeah it was good", she said, barely a whisper. It wasn't great, but it wasn’t bad, and it definitely wasn't like her first time with Nicole. It wasn't romantic, it wasn't slow, he wasn't concerned about her needs or how she was feeling...he wasn't Nicole. 

They dressed in relative silence and climbed back in the cab of the truck. He talked about football and Waverly being his girl - something she didn't agree to - the whole ride home, but she barely spoke. He dropped her off leaving her with a big wet kiss. She walked in the house and flopped down on her bed and looked over all the texts Nicole had sent her that day. She wanted to call her, she wanted..needed to hear her voice but Nicole was moving on. She figured she needed to do the same. She showered for 40 minutes trying to wash Champ off her body. She hated that she could still smell the condom. She thought it would be smart to look into birth control in the morning...to be safe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh yay..Shae and Champ as story regulars...


	3. You Made Your Choice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Talking things out is always good.

It had been a week since she and Waverly last spoke. She called the younger girl every day almost every 3 hours to no avail. Her texts went unanswered as well. When she tried to ask Wynonna about her she was met with a glare and no response. She resolved to go home that Friday for the weekend and try to talk to Waverly face to face. 

She drove home right after her last class at 2pm. She figured she’d grab a late lunch/early dinner with her aunt and uncle before going over to Waverly's. 

She arrived at Gus' around 9pm, hoping Gus and Curtis were at the bar so she could talk to Waverly alone. She pulled up next to Waverly's Jeep which was parked next to a big black truck she had never seen before. She rang the doorbell and was surprised by the person who answered. 

"Can I help you?", Champ said, she could smell the beer on his breath.

"Uh, yeah, I'm here to see Waverly. Is she-is she home?", she ask irritated. 

"Hey babe, some ginger chick is here for you!", he shouted of his shoulder in the direction of the kitchen. 

"Babe? What the fuck?", she said confused to herself. She heard the distinct sound of a dish falling in the sink, a few seconds later Waverly turned the corner and walked slowly toward the door. Nicole didn't miss the hickey on her neck and felt her heart drop.

"Yes", the younger girl said dryly and shortly. 

"Hey, Waves. It's so good to see you", she said smiling, trying to ignore the bro looking guy staring at them from the couch.

"What are you doing here, Nicole"?, she asked with bite in her tone.

She wanted to be happy to hear her love finally say her name, but she rarely called her Nicole, she yearned to hear her call her 'Nic' instead. She tried to hide her sadness but Waverly could see it. She almost felt bad for her but then she remembered the other girls voice not a week after they broke up and she couldn't feel bad for her.

"I was hoping we could talk about... ya'know", she said sadly.

"There's really nothing to talk about, Nicole. You made your choice, you moved on and as you can see so have I".

"With him? A guy, Waverly?", she asked surprised and disgusted. “And I haven’t moved on. I told you I didn’t want to do that, what happened was a mistake".

"I did date guys before you, Nicole. Don't act so surprised. And you could have fooled me, considering you were still with her the next afternoon after spending all night with her. Look I have to go, I don't want to keep Champ waiting", she said backing away from the door, reaching for the handle to close it. 

Nicole quickly reached out and grabbed her hand, stopping her from closing the door and walking away. "Please, Waves...please…", there was too much hurt in her voice for Waverly to keep ignoring it.

"Fine. Tomorrow, around 1", she said firmly. She wasn't asking if the time worked, it had to work or Nicole would miss her chance to talk to her.

"Perfect. I'll come over then", with a little hope in her voice. 

"No, I'll-I'll come to you", she quickly shot back. She needed to be able to leave when she was done with the conversation. 

"Uh ok, My aunt and uncle would love to see you, but they're heading out for the weekend early".

"Ok, see you then", she went to close the door, not interested in saying anything more.

"Ok. Goodnight, Waves", she called leaning to the right and the younger girl all but closed the door in her face. She turned away, wiping at tears as she headed back to her car.

She drove home wiping away tears. Waverly had moved on, because she thought she had moved on with Shae. She moved on with a guy. A very handsome, tall athletic guy named Champ. How did this happen. She made one drunk mistake and it was ruining her life. This is not what was supposed to happen. They were just supposed to take some time apart and come back to each other...not find other people and move on.

\-----

Nicole was dressed and waiting for Waverly at 12pm. She didn't want to lose anymore time fixing this with Waverly. 

Waverly arrive around 1:15pm. She she was never late Nicole thought. She was a little hurt, but glad the girl had still come over, late and all.

Waverly had to talk herself into going to Nicole's. She wasn't sure how the conversation was going to go, she knew what she hoped would be the outcome but she didn't know if Nicole felt the same. She was late getting to Nicole's, she was never late but she didn't care. She was still too hurt to care too much. She walked up to the front door and rang the bell.

"Waves. Thank-thank you for coming. I'm really glad you came", she said happily.

"Hi". Was all the younger girl said.

Nicole noticed the disconnect, "uh, come in. Do you want water or anything?". She asked nervously. The last time she was nervous when it came to Waverly was when they were in her candle lit room seeing each other naked for the first time.

"I'm good, thanks", is all she said.

Nicole moved to head down to her room but the younger girl spoke up.

"Actually can we do this in the living room?", she asked. She didn't want to be in the room were her and Nicole had made so many memories, it would have only broke her.

Nicole thought that was odd. They'd never hung out in the living room before, not that they were hanging out, and she didn't miss the way Waverly referred to them talking as "doing this".

"Uh, sure, ok".

They both sat on the couch, a little more space between them than Nicole would have liked but she respected Waverly and didn't want to crowd her space, make her feel uncomfortable or run her off before they had a chance to talk. They sat quietly for a beat before Nicole finally spoke. 

"I'm sorry, Waverly. I'm so sorry. I didn't mean for that to happen, I swear. That's not what I wanted to happen at all", she rushed out.

"Have you been with...seen her again?"

"What? No! Of course not. It was a one time mistake that meant nothing. I haven't talked to or seen her since that night - uh morning. Are you-are you with that guy now?", she asked, afraid to really hear the answer.

"I didn't come here to talk about Champ, Nicole. You said you wanted to talk. You've apologized already, was that all?". She seemed anxious and ready to go. Being around Nicole was bringing back too many emotions she just didn't want to face.

"I-I don't know what else to say, Waverly other than what I've said. It was a huge mistake. I'm starting to think all of it was…"

"All of what?, Waverly asked.

"The girl… the break between us. I just don't know anymore if it was the right thing to do, especially after finding out you really didn't want to do it…"

"What are you saying, Nicole?"

"I don't know, Waves…".

"That's not an answer, Nic".

Nicole's heart jumped a little.

"I just-"

"Do you- do you want to get back together?", the younger girl asked cautiously. 

"I- I don't know. I just didn't mean for what happened to happen".

"So you don't want to get back together then? Why am I here, Nicole?! So you could do your due diligence and apologize to my face? Well...you did that. And since you don't want to get back together, I'll be leaving", she spat.

"To go where? Back to him? Is he your boyfriend now, Waverly?", she asked harshly. 

"Well he thinks I gave him my virginity and you and I both know I don't just go around giving that to anyone, so yeah, I guess - yeah he is", she said to Nicole's shock.

"You did what?! But-but we-we... you already gave it to me.... You gave your virginity to me, Waves...How could he-?" She was devastated Waverly would basically null and void their first time together for some guy. Especially after she'd gone through so much effort to make it special. "Wait, you had sex with him? How long have you known him?!", she asked in a mix of panic and anger.

"We both know how sex works, Nicole. You and I may have done it first and yes you may have broken my hymen as you said, but he was able to do...more than we did… We were in the back of his truck and since it was going to be my first time with an actual...man parts, I didn't want him going too fast and have it hurt so I told him I was a virgin. It's not completely untrue. And about as long as you've known that girl", she said the last part with a bite.

"It is untrue, Waverly! We-you've had sex plenty of times..hundreds of times...with me…", she dejected. "And in the back of his truck, really Waverly??". "Because I made one mistake you're going to erase and act as if our entire relationship didn't happen? Go off and have sex with the first GUY you meet?!"

"No! That's not what I'm doing. I just need to separate myself from you now...I need to just be Waverly...not WayHaught…" she said trailing off. "And what's the difference between what I did and what you did?"

"But-but what happened to finding each other again, coming back together…", the hurt obvious in her voice. "And the difference was that I was drunk…you weren't".

"We...you never put a date on when this break would end, Nicole. Maybe we haven't been on it long enough yet to be ready to find each other again just yet".

Waverly was hurt. She needed to distance herself from Nicole and she also wanted Nicole to feel a bit like she felt at first...even if it was a little mean.

"What are you saying, Waverly?", the older girl asked confused. 

"I'm saying we should do like you wanted, like we agreed, and see how we grow individually…".

"Oh..ok. So we're just done, done like that? No more texts or calls at all?" Nicole didn't expect the conversation to go this way at all.

"You said yourself it's best to limit communication so it won't hurt as much. Might as well rip it off like a bandaid and cut it now...it'll only get harder if we keep...keep holding on".

"Waverly, please. This isn't what I want and I know it's not what your heart really wants. Maybe we can just talk every two days…" she says hoping the younger girl will agree.

"It's not what my heart wants, Nic...but...its what my mind knows is best. I think, I think we should just leave here today knowing we love each other and because of that we have to let each other go. You know what they say, let them go and if they come back they really are yours, if they don't..they never really were…" the finality in her voice cut through Nicole's heart like a serrated knife. 

Not caring that she was crying, she reluctantly agreed, knowing she was only getting what she initially asked for, although this time, it didn't sound like it was just a break...it sounded more like the end. "Um...ok. If this is what you want, Waverly".

With that, the younger girl quickly stood from the couch, wiping furiously at her face as she headed towards the door, Nicole in tow also wiping at her face.

They stood at the front door just looking at one another before Nicole reached out and pulled Waverly into the tightest hug she'd ever gotten from the older girl. Even tighter than when she first left for school. Waverly hugged her back and held on just as tight.

Through her tears she mumbled into the brunette’s hair, "I love you so much, Waves. I'm so sorry". To which Waverly replied, face buried in Nicole's neck, "I love you, Nic...goodbye". She placed a haste, but loving and passionate kiss on the older girls lips and ducked out of the house before she could react to it. She ran to her Jeep continuing to wipe away tears. She sped down the street and out of Nicole's life.

Nicole closed the door and dropped her head to the back of it. She cried out loud banging on the door muttering 'I'm sorry and please don't leave me'. She had ruined everything. She pushed Waverly into someone else's arms and she couldn't fix it. She thought of ending the break but she knew they would end up back at it eventually, so she resolved to save them both that heartbreak, although her heart was shattered the second Waverly walked out.

Waverly spent all day Sunday in bed crying, looking at old photos of her and Nicole. She tossed them in a shoebox and stuffed them deep in her closet and decided she'd cried enough, she couldn't give Nicole anymore of her tears. That relationship, that love, was over.

Nicole left Purgatory early Sunday morning, without a word, like a thief in the night, in and out before anyone other than Waverly knew she was even there.


	4. Nicole and I Are Fine Now

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> On to the next...

Nicole had gotten a call from the university housing saying that an available on campus apartment had just opened up in the coed dorms. She'd have her own room but the showers would be both men and women. She said that was fine and would have to do under her current circumstances; she had to get out of the room with Wynonna. If her and Waverly couldn't work this out she didn't need reminders of her ex and her sister would be just that. Thankfully Wynonna wasn’t home, so she was able to move her few things into the small apartment across campus and be out before Monday morning. 

She got a short but telling text from the older brunette midday Monday.

Wynonna 2:38pm: Smart move moving out before I got back, Haught.

She actively tried to avoid running into the old girl around campus which wasn't too hard as they were rarely in the same buildings due to their majors and the fact that Wynonna was hardly ever actually at school. She didn't speak to Wynonna after she moved out. 

\-----

Shae 6:08pm: Hey, Nicky. We still on for dinner tonight?

Nicole 6:11pm: Of course. I'll swing by around 7:30 to pick you up

She didn't intend to make anything of the one nightstand she'd had with Shae. But since Waverly officially ended their relationship for good and she'd run into Shae two weeks later, and she didn't really know anyone else on campus, they'd started grabbing coffee, which turned into dinners, which lead to them dating and eventually putting a title on it. 

"Hey, babe!"

"Hey, Shae!". Although Nicole was slowly still getting over Waverly, she wasn't ready to call Shae anything other than her name. Pet names would make it all too real that the person she was calling that name wasn't Waverly. 

"So, I figured we could try the steakhouse off campus, Morton's. Its kinda fancy but we're dressed perfect", the older girl said.

Since she'd started dating Shae she was dressing a little less athletic. She and Shae were often at Shae's dad's work events and had to be professional. She had met Shae's parents a couple months into dating at the older girls request. She knew meeting parents meant the relationship was now serious but she didn't think much of it. But she actually kind of liked dressing like an adult for a change and not just a cliche lesbian basketball player.

"Sounds good, let's go".

They made small talk at the restaurant, usually about Shae's med school and future career as Nicole, try as she might, just couldn't really get too deep in the conversation. Yeah she was with Shae, but she couldn't completely let go of Waverly. She knew it wasn't fair to Shae, but she would never tell her that, but she felt like Shae already knew.

"So I was thinking...since you met and spent Thanksgiving with my family, maybe I could meet your aunt and uncle and we spend Christmas with them, I'd love to meet them", she cautiously said.

"You mean in Purgatory? You-you want to go to Purgatory for Christmas?", she asked surprised. While she had spent a holiday with Shae's family, which was obviously a big deal in terms of how serious Shae thought they were, she hadn't thought of them spending any holidays with her family...especially not in Purgatory where they could risk running into Waverly and her new boyfriend. 

"Uh..sure, I guess. That sounds cool", she said with uncertainty. 

"Yay! Ok! I finally get to meet your family!", the older girl excited exclaimed. 

\-----

"Yes, Nicky, yes!", Shae moaned out.

Nicole was never a huge talker during sex, but as her and Waverly began doing it more and more she had become one. But with Shae though, she let her do most of the talking. The only sounds from her were usually moans and a short, haste reply if Shae asked, 'like that, Nicky?' or 'do you like that, Nicky?'. She still enjoyed sex, but now it was just sex, no longer making love and it was only when Shae wanted it or when she needed to distract herself from thinking of Waverly or she was really bored. 

Although her arm, wrist, hand and fingers were moving diligently working to drive deep inside Shae, her mind was a million miles away.

"Hey, hey, Nicky? Where did you go, baby?", she asked as she placed her hand on Nicole's bicep, effectively stopping the thrusting motion. She could see in Nicole's eyes she was somewhere else.

"Huh? Oh sorry, just got a little distracted", she quickly replied trying to salvage the activity. "I'm here, I'm here, sorry, Shae", as she ducked her head down and kissed the older girl, resuming her pumping action. She was often distracted during sex… because she couldn't help thinking about Waverly. How it should be Waverly underneath her or how it was now Champ hovering over her...inside of her...Shae was over the edge in minutes with Nicole's fast action. She had picked up a few things from the older girl and was pretty good at executing them. She shamefully wondered if she’d ever get to try these things with Waverly.

Nicole softly groaned out her own orgasm as she had been working herself against Shae's thigh at the same time. She collapsed breathing heavy into Shae's neck. She kissed her cheek and rolled onto her back, Shae immediately tucking into her side and throwing her arm across the redhead's bare stomach. They both drifted off to sleep. 

\-----

Waverly wanted to text or call Nicole and see how she was doing. It had been 4 weeks since they last spoke and her heart was mended no better. She asked Wynonna how she was doing since they were roommates and was only told she had moved out that weekend and the older brunette didn't know to where and that she hadn't seen her around campus. Had she moved in with that girl...did she drop out of college altogether...did she miss me as much as I missed her...Waverly thought. She couldn't remain fixated on Nicole and her past any longer, she had to move forward.

She had talked to Wynonna about everything one night at Gus' after drinking. She cried on her sister's shoulder saying she wished she'd never agreed to this stupid break because it ruined everything. She even told her about losing her virginity to Nicole, then again to Champ just to spite Nicole. While normally the older brunette would have been all for hurting the redhead, she knew this wasn’t the Waverly she knew. She knew having sex with Champ so soon probably did more damage to Waverly than she thought it would so she told her she'd be there whenever she needed to talk.

A couple months later her and Champ were still going strong, or at least he thought they were. She was just going through the motions, she'd never tell him but he was more of a distraction than a serious boyfriend. She missed so many things about Nicole, the intimacy and the passion during sex was one because it was sorely missing with Champ. After the first few times he no longer focused on her needs, just his. She hadn't had an orgasm since the last time her and Nicole had sex and she refused to masturbate because the one time she tried she ended up imaging it was Nicole's hand touching her and she broke down.

"Ahhhh! Thanks, babe", Champ said as he fell back on the bed, Waverly was getting up from between his legs on the floor wiping her mouth after not so subtly spitting in a towel.

She hated the act. It didn't help that Champ never told her he was coming until it was too late and she had a mouth full of him. This act with Nicole was always great, amazing even. Nicole never pushed her head down into her lap and she always reciprocated. Champ would always say he was no good at it to get out of doing it and it usually worked. Waverly didn't want to beg him to please her, she felt like she shouldn't have to, he should want to please her being her boyfriend but he never cared.

"Ok, Champ. I have to go, I have homework and I need to study", she said straightening her hair and clothes. She didn't have to do either she just didn't feel like faking interest in sex which usually came next. 

"But you said you'd stay and hangout?", he said with fake puppy dog eyes.

"I'm sorry, I forgot. I'll talk to you later. Bye, Champ". And she was out the door.

Neither Nicole or Waverly sought true intimacy and connection during sex anymore with their current partners. But they both had become so good at pretending, they had forgotten what it felt like to really enjoy sex, enjoy making love to someone you love...they were simply going through the motions. 

\-----

Champ and Waverly had spent Thanksgiving with his family and were planning to spend Christmas with hers. It was the Saturday before Christmas and they were at the grocery store grabbing some last minute items for Gus when Waverly heard a voice that stopped her in her tracks and almost brought her to her knees.

\-----

"Well my aunt prefers gluten free and my uncle doesn't care, so get the gluten free ones", the redhead said.

"Ok, Nicky, I'll grab em".

Another voice Waverly would never forget, a voice that although she only heard it once, brought chills down her spine.

Her and Champ rounded the corner, he was talking about his truck, she wasn't really listening because she was trying to focus on the two voices they were getting closer to them.

"Hey its that ginger chick. Man, the chick next to her is mad hot", he annoyingly said just as Nicole looked up and saw them.

Waverly didn't know what to do. She wanted to turn and run the other way but that would have been too obvious. The couples stood in their respective spots for a good minute before the new significant others pulled the girls to move.

"What's up, Red", he said flatly. "Hey, I'm Champ", he said a little too boisterously to Shae while reaching out to shake her hand.

The college girl was even more beautiful than Waverly imagined. No wonder Nicole slept with her; she was absolutely gorgeous. Tall, permanent natural tan, well dressed, mature… Waverly couldn’t compete with that. Not being some inexperienced little high school girl, she thought. She was snapped out of her thoughts by Nicole’s voice.

"Waves... Champ", Nicole said evenly. She was trying to hold back any emotion that might have shown. She was really happy to see Waverly, even if she was with her new girlfriend and she was with her new boyfriend. 

"Hi, I'm Shae", she said politely shaking his hand and smiling at Waverly in an attempt to break the awkwardness that was so obvious. 

"Hey, Nic", the young brunette said softly. She too was fighting her excitement of seeing Nicole.

Truth be told, neither of them had been this happy since before Nicole's accidental hookup with Shae.

They were all silent for a beat before someone broke it.

Noticing the tension between the two younger girls Shae spoke up again.

"Are you and Nicky friends from high school"?, she asked. She'd already forgotten who Waverly was as Nicole made a point to not talk about her too much.

"Actually, we uh dated for-", the brunette was cut off by Nicole. 

"She's my ex, Shae. I told you about her", she said shyly.

With that statement Champ wrapped his arm around Waverly's waist possessively, Nicole didn't miss it or the way Waverly seemed to try and pull put away from him.

Waverly froze at the name Nicky. She knew it was the same girl Nicole slept with all those months ago. Her heart dropped all over again. The redhead noticed her change in demeanor and knew Waverly was recalling that fateful phone call.

"Oh yeah, sorry. So much studying for med school I forget people's names sometimes, only room for medical crap up here", she said laughing as she pointed to her head.

And she’s going to be a doctor… I really can’t compete with that Waverly thought sadly.

"She your new little friend, Red"?, Champ asked in nasty tone, not missed by any of the girls.

"Yeah, I'm her girlfriend", Shae snapped back emphasizing girlfriend.

If Waverly could look any smaller next to Champ following that statement from Shae she would have. She would have shrunk so small she could have disappeared. Nicole noticed her discomfort following Shae's statement and it was all she could do to not reach out and grab the younger girl and apologize again and beg her to take her back. But she stood there next to Shae hoping she could send enough mental positive vibes to Waverly to ease her discomfort. 

"Babe, we should probably get going. Don't want to keep your aunt waiting", Shae said.

"Uhm, yeah ok, right", Nicole stumbled out, snapping her out of staring at Waverly who was staring down at her boots.

"It-it was really great to see you, Waves", she said trying not to sound too excited. 

"Yeah, you too, Nic", she said barely above a whisper. 

"It was nice meeting you both, Shae said as she tugged Nicole's arm on the cart to get them moving.

They all walked past each other, Nicole and Waverly looking back at the exact same time to catch one last glance of each other.

Back at Nicole's that night Shae pouted her way into convincing Nicole to have sex in her old room, in her old bed. She'd never tell Nicole this but she wanted to erase whatever memories she could of the redhead having sex with Waverly in that room by replacing it with memories of her screaming Nicole's name, she even brought a toy along to really make it stick. 

Nicole had never used a strap on and wasn't particularly fond of trying it now. But Shae really wanted her to use it on her. She said it made sex amazing. Shae had also bought a bottle of whiskey, which reminded Nicole of the Earps, so they could take shots to relax a little before they jumped into things. The redhead quickly took 3 shots to steady her nerves and try to get Waverly out of her mind. 

Pulling the harness and toy up her long legs, Shae tightened the harness around Nicole and seductively crawled backwards on the bed, beckoning for Nicole to follow.

Nicole swallowed hard, finally feeling the alcohol in her system and crawled toward Shae. She fumbled a bit at first as she couldn't feel what she was doing and needed to find her rhythm. Once she got the hang of it, the alcohol took over and she drove into Shae like there was no tomorrow, hard and fast. Feeling her hips snap, seeing the way Shae was writhing underneath her, seeing how much pleasure she was giving the older girl, and hearing the slap of their thighs meeting, Shae moaning in her ear, she actually started to enjoy it, enjoying the power and dominance she seemed to have just by wearing and using this toy. Shae actually had to tell her to slow down a bit, she was so far gone between the alcohol and slipping and thinking of Waverly and Champ that she fucked the older girl with everything she had. All the emotions she could muster, sadness, anger, arousal, pleasure and frustration. The bed rocked and bounced in time with Nicole's strokes into Shae. With the thought of Champ roughly driving into Waverly, her Waverly, she sped up and increased her force. If it hurt Shae at all it was hard to tell because she came, screaming Nicole's name at the top of her lungs, aunt and uncle upstairs be damned. With the base of the toy vigorously rubbing into Nicole the entire time she followed Shae, choking out her name softly. She tumbled over to Shae's side breathing heavy. The older girl turned on her side and kissed the younger girl softly. 

"That was beyond amazing, Nicky. We're definitely going to be using this way more often", she said as she nudged the toy still standing proud protruding from Nicole's lower waist. Nicole internally groaned at the thought. She didn't want to use it again because it only made her think about Waverly and Champ and how, as Waverly said, it filled her more than fingers could. If Waverly enjoyed sex so much with Champ, maybe she would enjoy it with her using this toy also… she hoped anyway.

She slid the harness off and fell back on the bed. Shae sleepily curled up into her side. She closed her eyes, fighting back tears, wishing sleep would come fast.

\----- 

Christmas with the Haughts' and with the McCreadys' went by quickly for both girls thankfully. Nicole tried to avoid going out except their last night in town as Shae wanted to go have celebratory drinks for their second holiday together. And with Shorty's pretty much being the only one in town, Nicole hoped and prayed neither Earp girl or Gus were there.

They walked in about 8:30pm with the intention of grabbing a drink or two then heading back to Nicole's as they had to get up early to head back to school.

And of course, with Nicole's luck, not only was Gus behind the bar, so was Waverly. All she needed was to look further down the bar and see Wynonna and her torture worthy night would be set...and of course, the older brunette was sat at the far end of the bar with a glass in front of her.

"Great", Nicole mumbled to herself. This night was definitely going to be awkwardly long.

She and Shae made their way to a booth across the bar, away from Wynonna. Stephanie was also working and Nicole saw Waverly whisper something in her ear and the blonde was walking over to their booth to take their order. They ordered two burgers with fries and sodas and a couple shots. Nicole needed to be relaxed for however stressful this night turned out to be.

They had been sitting and talking for almost an hour when Wynonna finally came over.

"You... it takes some real balls for you to show your face in here after what you did, Haught ", she slurred.

"Wynonna, we're just here to eat and have a couple drinks. Can we skip the drama, please? She and I have already talked about it", she said exhausted. 

"Babe, who's this", Shae asked.

"Babe?", Wynonna said in disgust. "Really, Haught? Is this the chick you basically cheated on my sister with at that party?", she angrily spat.

"What?!", both Shae and the redhead said in unison.

"You had a girlfriend when we hooked up?!"

"No, Shae, of course I didn't. Waverly and I had broken up before that party".

"Yeah the week before. You weren't even single for a week before you went off and banged some college chick!"

"Excuse me?", Shae shot at Wynonna. 

"Oh you're excused alright. Why don't you excuse your pretty little ass outta my bar!"

"Wynonna! Back off, ok?", Nicole said in a warning tone.

"Nonna! What the hell are you doing?!", Waverly ran up behind her whisper shouting. The bar was decently packed enough that Waverly didn’t want all the towns folk to know the woman she had spent so much time, grown up with, was attached to for so long once upon a time was now back in Purgatory with a new woman. 

"Defending your honor, Babygirl. Haught here and her homewrecker college girl need to leave our bar!"

"I don't need you to do that" she gritted out. "Nicole and I are fine now, right Nic? I'm over her and she's over me, what we had is over, so move on Wynonna! We have!", she spat.

Nicole felt the sting of each of those words. She knew Waverly meant more than what she said. It's over reverberated through her mind and it hurt. It hurt to hear it out loud that even after all these months of them not speaking and dating other people, Waverly really did feel like it was truly over between them. She didn't want to believe it. She couldn't. Even with calling Shae her girlfriend, Nicole really didn't want her and Waverly to be over...she still loved her, they still had so much more of life to experience together...as a happy couple. This couldn't be the end of them.

"Uh, Shae let's just go", she said standing up quickly. She had to get out of there before she screamed 'No, Waverly! I'm not over you, I don't want to move on!' They walked out the bar, Shae quickly grabbed Nicole’s hand once they reached the entrance. This wasn't the end of her and Waverly...it couldn't be...it wouldn't be.

\-----

After running into Nicole at the store, Waverly only left the house to go to Champ’s or work, and it was Sunday night and she had to work the late shift at Shorty's. 

Her shift started out normal until she saw the redhead and her girlfriend walk in. She was manning the floor and knew she'd have to wait on them unless she could talk Stephanie into doing it, which she did thankfully. 

She was keeping her distance until she heard Wynonna shouting across the bar. 

"Oh fudgenuggets!"

She quickly ran over to stop Wynonna from cursing out and possibly beating the redhead up. She ended up trying to diffuse the situation by saying that her and Nicole were over and that they both had moved on. She said the words out loud in hopes that she herself would believe them, but she didn't. She caught the crushed look in Nicole's eyes as she stopped talking. She didn't really want them to be over. She still loved Nicole. Besides, they were only supposed to be taking a break. The plan was always to find their way back to each other, right...

She watched and Nicole and Shae quickly left the bar following Wynonna’s drunk verbal attack. Nicole was not walking out of her life again, not this time. She watched, fighting back tears, itching to scream 'please come back, Nic...please'.


	5. Glad You Could Make It

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Even angst takes a break.

"Mmm...Happy birthday, Nicky", the older girl said as she made her way up the redhead's torso from between her legs. She kissed her deeply and Nicole could taste herself, she moaned at the taste. She didn't really care for the name Nicky, but she didn't have the heart to tell Shae, she seemed to really like calling her that. And the name Nic was reserved for someone else so she just went with it. 

"Thanks, Shae", she said smiling into the kiss. "That was great", she sighed.

"That's it? Thanks Shae, that was great??", Nicky, we've been together for over 8 months, I give you what to me seemed like pretty amazing sex and all you can say is thanks… no 'babe, that was amazing, you're amazing, I love you' or something?", she said annoyed as she sat up and threw on her shirt.

"I-I I'm sorry, Shae… I don't know what to say.. ", she said sadly.

"Call me baby or something...say you love me!", she shouted. This time climbing fully out of the bed and getting dressed.

"Shae… I'm not ready to say that yet… of course I care about you, you know that, but I'm just not ready to say those words yet", she said in an apologetic tone. 

"Why, because I'm not your little high school girlfriend, Waverly!?", she shot at the redhead.

"Why are you bringing up Waverly? She has nothing to do with us.", the redhead retorted.

"Doesn't she! She's the reason you can fully commit to me! Why you can't say you love me!"

"What are you talking about? I am committed to you, Shae. I introduced you to my aunt and uncle… I took you to my hometown for Christmas!". Nicole was standing now getting dressed.

"We both know that was only because I asked to go...you wouldn't have invited me otherwise and you know it. You know what, I'm just gonna go. When you figure out if you really want to be with me, call me". And she was out the door before Nicole could respond. 

"Fuck." She said throwing herself back on the bed. She liked, Shae. She had even learned to enjoy her company and she definitely enjoyed having sex regularly, and sex with Shae was pretty great, but she just couldn't give Shae what she wanted. She didn't know if she ever could either.

\-----

"So you're going to do what Nicole did to you?", the older brunette asked.

"It's not like you liked him Nonna. Plus, he was just a distraction from the break up, it was never meant to be more. And, he got a scholarship to a different school so it's better this way".

"And what about you, you ready to be going to school with Nicole again even though you guys aren't together and she has a girlfriend?"

"Our classes aren't in the same buildings considering our majors are different so hopefully I won't run into her much. We had already agreed to both of us going to Calgary U so she knows I'll be here. We've been broken up for 8 months now. Speaking of which, today is Nic's birthday, I should text her".

"Do you really think that's a good idea, Babygirl?"

"It's just a happy birthday text, Nonna. She sent me one for my birthday. There's no secret meaning behind it".

****

Waves 11:52am: Happy birthday, Nic! Hope you enjoy your day and weekend! - Waves

Nic 11:53am: Hey Waves! Thanks! I really appreciate it! How are you?

Waves 11:54am: I'm good, no complaints. How are you?

Nic 11:55am: I'm really good now… Graduation is coming up in a bit. I'm sure you're ace'ing all your classes. Are you ready?

Waves 11:56am: ; ) I know, I can't believe my senior year is almost over and I'll be heading to college after summer. Yeah I'm as ready as I'll ever be I guess

Waves 11:56am: You know I'll be at Calgary U this year… I hope that doesn't make things awkward..

Nic 11:59am: I know you'll be great. I wasn't sure if you'd still want to go considering..you know..But I'll be ok if you are

Waves 12:05pm: Water under the bridge right? I'll be ok if you are

But she didn't really believe it was water under the bridge. At least she hoped it wasn't. 

Nic 12:06pm: Yeah. Water under the bridge, I guess. Then I guess we'll be seeing each other around campus

She didn't want it to be water under the bridge, she hoped it really wasn't. With any luck she would run across her on campus.

Waves 12:07pm: Yeah we probably will. I'll let you go, I'm sure you're busy with college life. It was nice talking to you Nic

She really hoped they would see each other. 

Nic 12:08pm: Yeah you too, Waves. Don't be a stranger : )

Waves 12:09pm: : )

Here's to hoping they can at least be friends once Waverly gets to Calgary U...and maybe even more, they both thought.  
\-----

"Babe what's going on? You've been kinda weird lately. Are you on your period?" Champ asked with a twisted face.

"What? No Champ. I've just been busy thinking about my finals and college", she said annoyed.

"That's not for another 2 months and then college is even further away", he scoffed.

"I don't care, Champ. I need to focus. If you have a problem with that maybe we should take a break". She didn't plan on doing this so soon, but the opportunity presented itself. 

"Maybe we should. You've been weird for months now and I'm over it. Call me when your month long period is over" he said as he walked out.

"Well that was easy", she said to herself. 

\-----

"I did it!" She exclaimed. 

"Did what, Babygirl?"

"Broke up with Champ. I really do need to focus on finals and getting ready for college. He just doesn't understand".

"Not that I'm a fan of Chumps...but are you sure?".

"Yes, school comes first. There will be plenty of guys...and girls at school".

"And a certain redhead…", she whispered. 

\-----

“So I have some news…”, the older brunette said.

“Ok...what’s the news?”, the redhead asked as she turned off the TV in Shae’s room to focus on what her girlfriend had to say.

“So you know I was looking for an internship for the summer right...Well I found and applied to one about a month ago and I got!”, she exclaimed.

“That’s great news, Shae! Congrats!”

“Yeah, its just..its just that it's in Vancouver...for 3 months”, she said trailing off, looking at Nicole trying to read her.

“Oh..oh ok. It’s a great opportunity, Shae, they’d be lucky to have you as an intern there. But we’ll be able to talk everyday and text. And maybe you can come back some weekends and I can even go out to visit you”, the redhead said hopefully.

“So you’re not mad I applied for an internship a Providence over that would take me away for 3 months, all of summer. Summer we could be spending together…”, she stated curiously.

“Shae getting accepted into an internship has always been your goal. I can’t be upset you’re following through, getting a step closer to becoming a doctor, that wouldn’t be fair of me. It sucks we won’t be able to spend the summer together but I was likely going back to Purgatory anyway”

“Really? You’re going back home for the summer where you ex who just graduated high school and will also be out for the summer will be? That’s just great, Nicky. When were you going to tell me you were leaving for 3 months?!”, she shouted.

“I was waiting to see if you would get an internship first, Shae. Waverly graduating has nothing to do with me going back. Its summer, I’m not working at the coffee shop anymore so I’m going back to also spend a couple days a week at the sheriff’s station. That’ll kinda be my internship”.

“Jesus, Nicky. You’ve made all these decisions and plans and didn’t even talk to me about them first. And you were going to wait till the last minute to tell me you were leaving weren’t you? What was this, I, to you, Nicole? A distraction from your break up from Waverly? Were you ever really invested in this relationship or was I always just someone to pass the time?”, she asked through a mixture of hurt and annoyance.

“No, Shae. You weren’t a distraction. And don’t act so innocent in all of this. You applied for an internship hours away and didn’t tell me until now. And don’t act like I wasn’t some freshman conquest for you. I wasn’t the only one just going through the motions for the last 9 months”,she said in defense.

“The last 3 months, Nicky. The last 3 months I was going through the motions, hoping you’d change, but you never did. You never wanted to let me in. And I see now that you were never going to… if you were just going through the motions for our entire relationship. You know, maybe its better this way...a clean break. At least we won’t have to see each other around campus while it’s still fresh…”

“While what’s still fresh? You’re-you’re breaking up with me, aren’t you?”

“Don’t act so hurt, Nicky. I think you were just waiting for this. Well you have it. Free to mope around or go crawling back to Waverly. I really hope she was worth everything we could have had, could have been. It was fun, Nicky… I wish it could have been more”.

With those last words, Nicole stands and heads for the door. She isn't even sure what to say because honestly she doesn't want to even put up a fight.

"I'll grab my stuff later…", she throws over her shoulder as she pauses in the open doorway.

Through a rude chuckle, "you're not even going to try and fight for us...surprise surprise..don't bother coming back for your things. I'll drop them off next week, it’s not a lot, you never left much here", she says resolutely. 

Nicole just walks the rest of the way out the door and doesn't turn back.

\-----

Nicole stands among the decent size crowd, smiling big.

'And now, your Purgatory High Valedictorian, Waverly Earp!'

"Red Haught?", the older brunette asks in surprise.

"Nicole?", the younger brunette asks even more surprised.

"Hey, kid. Glad you could make it", Gus says sweetly as she extends her arm welcoming Nicole over to the group.

"Congrats, Waves. That speech was...amazing", smiling proud. "Hey Gus, Curtis...Wynonna".

"Th-thank you. What are-what are you doing here?", Waverly asks surprised. 

"Gus invited me. I was actually going to come anyway, but then Gus called and asked if I wanted to sit with the family. It also gave me a reason to come out and visit my Aunt and Uncle since I haven't seen them since Christmas. I hope it's ok I came. I know we're not...but I know you worked hard to finally get here and I just wanted to..ya know..support you."

Waverly smiled so big her cheeks hurt. She hadn't smiled that big since she spoke to Nicole for her birthday. 

"Well I appreciate you coming and offering your support. Nonna... be nice. She's coming to dinner with us, right Gus? I mean, if-if you want to", she says hesitantly. 

The older brunette glares at the redhead.

Nicole wants to say yes, but doesn't want to impose...or hey another ear full from the older brunette. 

"Of course she's coming, girls! Let's head out shall we?", Gus says excitedly. 

They all pile into the truck with Gus and Curtis and head to the city for dinner. Wynonna made a point of sitting in the middle seat between Nicole and Waverly. Frustration painted Nicole's face and sadness painted Waverly's, a look the older brunette did not miss and definitely felt bad for causing.

*****

Dinner was nice, almost like old times before Nicole went off to college. They talked about Waverly's plans to pick up more hours at Shorty's to cover some of her college costs and her desire to work toward your teaching credentials while also pursuing her Master's Degree in Education, something Curtis, Gus and Wynonna were all proud of; Nicole secretly was too.

Curtis and Gus would be remiss if they didn't at least ask Nicole how her first year of college went. Trying her best to hide the shame and embarrassment she felt for everything that happened, she replied with a simple, "oh ya'know, studying and parties. Kinda glad it's over though". She choked on her words when she said parties and definitely noticed the sad look on both the Earp girls faces.

"I'll actually be interning at the Sheriff's station with Nedley this summer to get a jump start on my pre academy training, so that should be fun".

Through an amused scoff, Wynonna shot at Nicole "once goodie two shoes Haught interning with Purgatory's finest...surprise surprise".

"Wynonna….. that's perfect Nicole, you being back here in town for the summer", Gus softly said, stealing a look over at Waverly who had froze in her seat presumably taking in this new information. 

Curtis and Gus knew the two younger girls had broken up to give each of them time to learn themselves outside of the relationship, and they were aware of Waverly dating Champ, however they weren't aware of Nicole's slip up or her dating Shae basically the whole year.

"Well, glad you made it through, kid. And glad to see you coming around, hope its long term again", Curtis said winking. "And now that Waverly has dropped that Champ kid, maybe you two can start hanging out again", he said hopefully with a sly smile.

"Curtis!", Gus hissed.

Both girls ducked their heads in blushes and awkward chuckles. They made brief eye contact with one another before quickly looking away. They both secretly hoped to spend more time together with Nicole being in town and now knowing Champ was no longer a factor. But Waverly didn't know she was also single. 

"Well let's not get too carried away. Red here has a girl…", Wynonna was cut off.

Quickly shutting the older brunette down, "I don't actually", she said with a glare toward the older girl.

"I'm home and free all summer if Waves can squeeze me in,'' she said with a shy smile toward Waverly. 

Waverly blushed again, this time at the thought of squeezing Nicole in…oh how she missed Nicole...

"Uh yeah… we'll see", she said through a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. Nicole noticed and felt a sharp pain in her heart. Maybe she blew it with the younger girl...she really hoped she didn't. 

Wynonna through back her drink and smiled before saying, "Well family...and Haught... let's hit the road shall we?"

Both younger girls caught the older girls comment. Nicole was always 'family', but Wynonna was making it clear that she no longer was. That hurt both girls to realize. 

Curtis settled the check and they made their way back to the truck. Holding open the door, Wynonna gestured toward the redhead first, then Waverly, who looked at her with a quirked eyebrow, then jumped in herself.

The ride back was fairly quiet. Being so close yet so far from Waverly had Nicole feeling all sorts of things. Their thighs were touching and she so badly wanted to reach over and squeeze the younger girls thigh but they weren't there yet… no where close.

Waverly could feel the heat and electricity between her and Nicole and wanted to reach over to hold her hand, but she held back. Her mind was racing with thought that Nicole would be interning at the Sheriff's station and she was now single. Maybe they could start spending more time together...since they are both single now.

The want was palpable between the two of them. It had been so long since they each felt that overwhelming desire for another person. How long would they be able to deny and ignore the feelings they obviously both still had for one another. 

They arrived back at the house and Nicole thanked them for dinner, said congrats to Waverly one more time before heading to her car.

"Hey, Nic! Uhm..sorry about Nonna and Curtis at dinner. Hope they didn't make things too awkward", she said apologetically. 

"Its ok, Waves. What else is family for if not to embarrass you", she said with a light chuckle. 

"Did um...did you mean what you said to Nonna...about not having a girl-girlfriend anymore?, she asked cautiously and nervously. 

"I did and I don't. Shae uh, broke up with me couple months ago".

"Oh, I'm sorry…".

"Don't be. I wasn't really that into her and she got tired of waiting for me to be… but I don't think I was ever going to be. I guess I just couldn't…"

"Couldn't what, Nic?"

"I couldn't give her my heart...it uh, you still have Waves… I know now that you always will."

Dumbfounded, Waverly just stood there staring.

"Nic… I uh, I should get back inside, it's getting late. Thank you for coming to my graduation and dinner", she stammered out before backing away toward the house. "Please let me know when you get home".

Nicole hoped for a different response, but understood she had just dropped a lot on the younger girl. 

"Uh, yeah. Sure Waves. Congrats again". She turned and walked back to her car, climbing in and driving home.

Nic 12:08am: Home safe… night Waves

Waves 12:10am: night Nic


	6. You'll Wake Your Aunt and Uncle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What's the endgame?

A couple weeks later, and very minimal communication between the two later, other than a few texts, Nicole stopped into Shorty's late Monday night for a burger and a beer. She'd had a long day at her internship at the Sheriff's station and just needed to relax.

Walking in she immediately spotted the brunette talking to a guy sitting at the bar. Shorty's was fairly empty which made Nicole relax even more. She took her usual seat at the end of the bar, popped the top buttons on her shirt and waited for Waverly. 

"Nic...hey. How are you?"

"Hey, Waves. I'm beat" she said with a tired chuckle. "How are you?"

"Oh you know", she said through a small smile. "What can I get you?"

"A burger, a beer and a shot of whiskey, please...long day", she said hoping that was explanation enough. 

"Day that rough?', Waverly asked genuinely interested in her answer. 

"Yeah just...being an officer is going to be a lot. I know I can do it, it’s just going to be a lot", she sighed. "Sorry I haven't texted, been super busy and exhausting at the station".

"If anyone can do it, its you, Nic. Oh no worries. I haven't exactly been the most communicative person either", she said apologetically. "Let me get your order started but here's your beer and shot".

Nicole is about 3 shots and 2 beers in, all served by Waverly before the younger girl finally tells her she should probably head home. They had talked here and there throughout the night. The most conversation they’ve shared since the final break up at Nicole's. The heat and energy between them definitely still present.

“You’re probably right. Luckily I don’t have work tomorrow so I can sleep this off until late morning”, she slurs.

She stands too quickly and stumbles.

Taking pity on her, “Ok, officer. I’m closing up since its slow, how bout I drive you home?”, the younger girl offered in a teasing but friendly tone.

“Oh no, Waves I don’t want to be any trouble. I’ll walk home and walk this off”, she tried to retort.

“It’s no problem, Nic, I don’t mind. Plus I’d like you to get home safe. Let me just wipe down the bar and we’ll head out”.

“Thanks, Waves”.

*****

“Ok, Nic. Here we are. Can you get downstairs without hurting yourself?”

Smiling from ear to ear, “I’m sure I can manage”, as she fumbles her keys, drops them then hits her head on the doorknob trying to pick them up.

“Owww, shittt, that hurt!”, she hisses grabbing at the back of her head.

“Ok, let me grab the keys and I’ll take you down”, Waverly offered, reaching up to rub the spot on Nicole’s head she just hit. Their eyes locked for a moment before Waverly cleared her throat and reached to put the keys in the lock.

Nicole stumbled through the door, kicked the bench in the main hallway causing it screech on the floor.

“Careful, Nic. You’ll wake your aunt and uncle”, the brunette whispered.

Nicole giggled at her stumble, “s’okay...not here...traveling till Wednes-Wednesday”, she slurred.

“Good, they won’t see what a Haught-mess their niece is”, she chuckled.

“Ha, ha...the pretty girl made a funny”, she blurted out.

Waverly paused at the comment, trying not to think too much of Nicole’s drunk comment.

Once they made it through the living room and down to Nicole’s room, Waverly plopped her down onto her bed and moved to pull off her boots. The redhead reached for her shirt and started to unbutton it, starting at the top. Waverly quickly, stood from her place of kneeling in front of Nicole and stammered out, “Uhm..ok, you’re home now, I should go”. Clearly panicking about Nicole unbuttoning her shirt.

Nicole just as quickly sobered up a bit enough to grab the younger girls wrist before she could walk away. 

“Waves, wait…th-thank you for bringing me home”, she said staring into hazel eyes. She watched as those eyes flicked back and forth from her eyes to her lips. Her grip on Waverly’s wrist tightened and her breathing picked up.

Waverly didn’t miss the change of vibe in the atmosphere. Her wrist in Nicole’s hand felt like it was on fire. She tried not to look at the older girl's lips, but she was drawn in once she caught a whiff of vanilla and strawberry and the fire in those brown eyes staring back at her. It also didn’t help that she was remembering the last time in this room...on this bed.

“Nic, I…”, her breathing was getting heavy.

“Waves....”, the older girl almost whispered as she looked between hazel eyes and soft pink lips.

Before Waverly knew what she was doing, she was diving on top of the redhead, pushing her back onto the bed straddling her waist and crashing her lips against the older girls. She felt like she was floating outside her body. Her lips were on fire. Her hands were on either side of the girls head as she hovered over her, running her tongue across her bottom lip.

Nicole had to collect herself enough to kiss the brunette back. While she may have been a little tipsy she had her wits about her enough to know Waverly was kissing her, something she wanted for almost a year. And once she fully collected her thoughts, she relaxed into the bed and enjoyed the feeling of the petite frame on top of her; it brought back so many good memories. She slowly drug her hands up either side of the firm, muscular thighs until she reached the bottom of the girl’s shorts. She passed over her thighs, giving a very light squeeze to firm curves before sliding up hands up the younger girl’s sides under her shirt. Her skin felt so good under her fingers. Her buzz was quickly fading as elation and euphoria took over instead. She felt Waverly’s tongue slide in her mouth and she sighed in happiness.

In her mind, she was telling herself to climb off the older girl and run out of the house. But she couldn't, her body wouldn’t move that way. Only in a way that gave her and the redhead beneath her passionate happiness. But her hand, her hand did move. It moved between their bodies, popping the remaining buttons of Nicole’s shirt before sneaking in under a bra cup and finding a hard nipple. She squeezed the erect nipple between her fingers massaging the soft mound and the redhead moaned.

“Fuck, Waverly. I’ve missed you so much. I missed your hands on me, your kiss....”, she moaned into the younger girls mouth as hands found strong thighs and squeezed tight. 

Waverly didn’t say anything, she just moaned in reply. She removed her hand from Nicole’s right breast and quickly moved to unbuckle, unbutton and unzip the redheads pants, it was a frantic dash. She immediately shoved her hand into her pants and drove 4 fingers deep into her wet center, sighing at the copious amounts of wetness. Nicole moaned in both slight pain (at the amount of fingers) and pleasure at feeling Waverly inside her again.

“Waves... yessss”, she grunted.

Waverly continued her rough thrusting into the wet center at the tip of her fingers while rubbing her thumb over the hard bud. She grunted and panted above the woman below her, maintaining eye contact the entire time, the redhead staring back. They were lost in each other's eyes, Nicole seeing something in Waverly's she had never seen before, power and control. Nicole thought this must be what Waverly felt she didn't have when everything happened..power and control to stop it...to change it. The younger girl twisted and curled her wrist trying to quickly bring Nicole to her peak. She missed this feeling; Nicole on her fingertips, writhing underneath her, moaning her name. With the way she was stroking Nicole, she was able to grind herself on the back of her own hand through her jean shorts while she straddled the older girl, as she was completely soaked through her underwear, and was bringing herself as well as Nicole to climax. Her wrist burned but she didn’t stop, she couldn’t, she wanted to feel Nicole’s walls pulse and squeeze her fingers, she missed feeling it. She pushed her tongue deeper into Nicole’s mouth, seeking out and winning dominance over the older girl's tongue. Nicole had snaked one had up to cup Waverly’s breast and the other was buried in brown locks at the nape of her neck, keeping her close as her tongue ravished her mouth. She panted in pleasure as her hips rocked with the fingers driving hard inside her. She wanted to last longer, but she could feel her orgasm building. She loved this feeling, Waverly deep inside her. To her it was the best feeling in the world, next to being loved by Waverly. And while she wanted to draw it out, her body had other plans.

“Oh, fuck, Waves. I’m-I’m coming!”, Nicole shouted out into the room as she reached her peak. Eyes slamming shut as the storm ripped through her from head to toe. Her grip had shift to the younger girls bicep, she was sure she'd leave finger dents where she squeezed so tight when she came.

“Nicccc...”, the younger girl, choked out low and softly as her orgasm rang through her. It felt good, amazing even to be back in this position with the woman she loved. She wanted to scream her name but instead it came out a whisper, a scared panicked, what have I just done whisper. 

The older girl wrapped her arms around the younger girl as she collapsed on top of her. They laid together on the bed for what felt like an hour, Waverly breathing heavily on top of the redhead, both trying to catch their breaths.

Once Nicole caught hers she asked, “Waves, did you…”.

In a soft, seemingly shy and uncertain tone, the younger girl replied, “Yeah...I did”.

“That’s good, baby”, Nicole said through a haze of a slight buzz and post orgasmic bliss as she started to drift off to sleep, but not before placing a sweet kiss on Waverly’s head. She didn't even realize what she said.

Waverly didn’t miss the pet name. Feelings she couldn't describe came over her and she moved to extract her hand and climb off the older girl.

“Wait, please don’t leave me, Waves”, she awoke from her brief dozing to say, still slightly influenced by the alcohol in her system.

“I’m just going to wash up”, she says as she heads towards the bathroom on the other side of the bed. After washing up she returns to see Nicole has crawled out of her pants and shirt as is in nothing but her sports bra and boy shorts, curled up on the right side of the bed (Waverly’s is the left) fast asleep.

Waverly walks over to the bed, picks up the discarded clothes and neatly folds them and puts them on the bench at the foot of the bed. She returns to Nicole’s side, leaving water and aspirin and wipes away stray hairs on her forehead before placing a kiss there. She makes her way out of the room, back to her car and heads home, wondering the whole way what had they just done.

*****

Nicole awakes the next morning to aspirin and water on her bedside table, immediately downing them. She reaches to her left to be met with a cold, untouched side of the bed. She shoots up quickly and sees no sign of Waverly, but that her uniform is neatly folded at the foot of her bed. She panics and tries to recall if what happened was a drunk wet dream or a drunken hook up, one she hoped Waverly wouldn't see as a drunken mistake. She grabs her phone and calls the brunette.

She answers on the 3rd ring.

“Hey, Nic”, the younger says asks evenly.

“Uh hey, Waves”, she says nervously. “Just checking to see if you made it home ok last night… you know, after you dropped me off".

“Yeah, you were pretty drunk”, she tries to chuckle. “I walked you in and you pulled your clothes off and passed out pretty quickly. I left some aspirin on your nightstand, I’m sure you need it this morning”, she said with another awkward laugh.

‘Maybe it was a dream...maybe we didn’t have sex', Nicole thinks.

“Yeah, I got the aspirin, thanks. And thanks for bringing me home. Hey, Waves..uhm...uhm are you sure nothing else happened? I mean my memory is kinda fuzzy but uhm, I kinda remember more than just you dropping me off and leaving…and I'm a little sore... but in a good way” she said cautiously and shyly.

'Shit!', Waverly thought. 4 fingers might have been too much.

“Oh, uhm...yeah about that… I don’t think we should read too much into it, Nic. It was really, really great, but we’re both fresh off break ups and I don’t think we should ruin our potential friendship by dwelling on a drunken mistake”, she said with a pained face Nicole couldn't see, but she could hear the hurt in her voice. "I didn't mean to lie, I just - I just want to move past it is all".

“But only I was drunk, Waves...you weren’t. Do-do you regret that it happened? Because I don’t”.

“I know...No, Nic. I don’t. And that’s the problem. We haven’t even established a friendship yet and we’ve already had sex. I don’t regret it, but I don’t think it should happen again either. We still have to figure out what it is we're doing here".

“Oh-oh ok. You’re probably right. Until we know what we are to one another, we should probably not blur the lines again…” she trailed off, hurt in her voice, Waverly caught it but couldn't dwell on it.

“Yeah… hey listen I have to get ready for my shift but I’ll talk to you later ok, Nic?"

“Of course, sure, Waves. I’ll talk to you later”.

“Bye, Nic”.

“Bye, Waves”.

It was true, neither regretted the brief, but passionate night they'd had together. In fact, Waverly really enjoyed it. Taking control and bringing Nicole to her orgrasm so quickly felt good for more than one reason. She felt like she finally had some control in her life when it came to Nicole and she felt invigorated by it. But she would be lying if she said she didn’t secretly hope they would start spending more time together. She just wasn't sure what it meant for them in the future though. Was it a drunken mistake like Nicole made that fateful night all those months ago, or did it mean more. 

Nicole was royally confused by the encounter. Hell yes she enjoyed it, what she could remember anyway, but she was confused at how assertive the younger girl seemed to be and what it meant, she was drunk after all. Also, at how distant she was while being right there with Nicole. She wanted to explore this new dynamic more..she hoped Waverly felt the same. She didn't want Waverly to compare this to the mistake she made the first week of school, she could only hope Waverly knew she meant much more than just a drunken hook up.


	7. Perfect!!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Communication is key.

It had been 2 weeks since that night in Nicole's bed and again, the girls had only texted a few times. There was one phone call when Waverly had to call the Sheriff's when a drunk patron was harassing the other patrons and Nicole answered the phone and was dispatched to assist along side Nedley. But other than that, they had only texted every other day with simple 'hey how are you' or 'hope you're doing well texts'. They both itched to talk more but both were afraid to initiate anything, until Curtis and Gus and Waverly invite Nicole over for dinner. 

Waves 2:15pm: Hey, Nic. Any plans for dinner tonight?

Nicole was beside herself. 

Nic 2:27pm: Uh, no. No plans. What's up?

Waves 2:29pm: Would you like to join Curtis, Gus and I for dinner at the house?

Nic 2:30pm: Yeah, I'd love to!

Waves 2:32pm: Perfect! I'll see you around 730!

The dinner went well. Nicole talked about how things were going at the station and Waverly talked about the new info she found out regarding her teaching credentials. The evening was almost cut short when Gus and Curtis were called down to Shorty's when a pipe broke in the basement. Both girls offered to tag along and help but Gus insisted they stay and finish dinner and that her, Curtis and Shorty could handle the bar. Gus told the girls to continue the dinner and that they might be a while so enjoy themselves.

Waverly thought it was odd both Gus and Curtis were going down to Shorty's to help but she didn't dwell on it. 

They were sitting at the table, side by side as Gus and Curtis were across from them before they left, when Waverly asked if Nicole wanted a drink. Nicole quickly quirked an eyebrow and asked if that was really a good idea considering what happened the last time Nicole drank.

"Yeah...maybe we should talk about that, Nic…"

"Yeah I guess we should. I know I said I didn't regret it, and I don't. And I know you said you didn't either, but what does it mean...for us?"

"What do you want it to mean?" Waverly asked hesitantly. 

"Honestly? I hope it means something is still there between us and hopefully we can explore it more this summer. And I don't just mean sex…"

"Really? You'd want that? What about Shae, and college dating and the original reasons why we broke up?"

"That was so stupid of me to do, Waves. I'll apologize forever if you need me to. Wanting the break and dating Shae after it happened... She's not a factor anymore and I don't want college dating...I want you", she said matter of factly. 

"Nic… I don't know what to say. I've wanted to hear those words for almost a year, and I finally do and…

A loud knock at the door disrupted her.

"Sorry...hang on", she said apologetically.

Nicole couldn't hear everything but she could tell it was a guy...a guy Waverly knew, and based on the younger girls responses he was trying to get her to do something she clearly didn't want to do. Nicole was instantly annoyed and hoped he didn't just ruin their chance to reconcile. She threw back all her whiskey in one go, quickly filling her glass again. 

Muffled conversation, "No, Champ. I told you. I need to focus on school...I don't care that it's months away, I need to focus... Can we not do this right now, Champ, I'm kind of busy… Don't worry about who, it's none of your business...That's a little cruel don't you think? You know it wasn't just about sex", she whispered the last part as she didn't want Nicole to hear. "Well maybe it was for you, but it wasn't for me… Sometimes people have different goals and ambitions that cause them to drift apart. Please just accept it for what it was, Champ… I'm sorry you feel that way, I have to go. Goodnight, Champ".

Nicole heard the door close and quickly sat back in her seat on the couch from her upright position as she didn't want to get caught eavesdropping on their conversation. 

"Sorry about that". Waverly returned to her spot on the couch, leaving a good amount of space between her and the redhead, throwing back her entire glass of whiskey, refilling it immediately. 

"It's ok. Was that Champ?" She asked although she knew the answer. 

"Yeah. He's having a hard time accepting the break up. We're going to different schools next year… it's for the best".

"You don't have to explain anything to me, Waves...I-I get it".

"Yeah… it's getting pretty late, maybe we should just call it night?"

"Really? I was hoping we could keep talking, you know about us. I'm not tired, I'm good, unless you are…". She really hoped the younger girl wouldn't cut the conversation short because of her ex showing up. She really wanted to talk things out and figure out where they were going. She took a big sip if her whiskey. 

"You're right, we should talk about things… Where was I? Oh right. Uhm, hearing you say the break was a mistake gives me hope, it does. But how do I know you won't change your mind about college dating? How do I know this isn't just something to do while you're home because I'm familiar? How do I know you won't lose interest in me the closer we get to going back to school?", Waverly asked seriously, like she had put serious thought into in where they go from that night. She downed her drink again, trying to calm her nerves in preparation for what the redhead was going to say. She held onto the bottle, foregoing refilling her glass.

"I won't, Waves, it's not. I want you, all of you and only you, for the summer and-and as long as you want me… I promise to be by your side. I fucked up really bad once, I won't make that mistake twice, Waverly". Nicole's eyes were serious and honest, and Waverly knew she meant it.

"I-I believe you, Nic. But… I think we should take things slow. I don't want to rush into getting back together too quickly and have everything fall apart. I want to be sure we want to do this, us, again for sure. Because Nic, I can't do another break up with you. I-I, it would be the last… no trying again… no going back".

"I know, Waves. And I agree 100%. It's all or nothing, I know. I'm all in if you are", she said hopefully. "We can do this at your pace, Waverly. However you want to do it, I'll wait as long as you need".

"Let's just...take things slow", she breathed. She felt herself getting warm.. and a little excited at the possibility of being back with Nicole again. It could have been the whiskey or the way Nicole was looking at her.

"Yeah...slow…no problem, Waves", as she looked the younger girl over. Only now noticing the skirt Waverly was wearing and the low cut shirt. Both pieces of clothing fitting her well and showing enough skin in all the right places. She wasn't sure if it was the whiskey making her think this way or just the excitement of what could be.

Noticing the younger girl was now looking from her eyes to her lips, she decided to cautiously and slowly close the space between them on the couch, matching the stare of moving from eyes to lips.

Waverly couldn’t help but look deep into Nicole’s eyes and then at her full lips. Maybe the 3 glasses of whiskey wasn’t such a good idea because it was definitely lowering her inhibitions, but after their last night together, and the talk they just had, she couldn't bring herself to care. So she moved closer along with Nicole and they stopped just short of inches away from each other. Her breathing increased, her heart was pounding and her pulse was off the chart. She leaned in ready to close the remaining gap, she could feel Nicole’s breath on her lips, but Nicole pulled back at the last second, Waverly looked up at her with a twisted brow, confused.

“What did, Champ say? We didn’t really discuss if we were going to see other people while we took things slow and I’m guessing by your irritation, he wanted to get back together”. The words were barely above a whisper as she didn’t want to speak too loud and completely ruin the moment.

“Wha-What?” , Waverly asked, words laced with complete confusion and irritation at the interrupted kiss. 

“Did he come over to ask to get back together with you? We should establish if you’re going to see other people during this...trial dating? Because I don’t plan to, Waves…”, she said resolutely.

Their faces were a bit farther apart but their bodies hadn’t moved.

“I-I, yes he wants to get back together. But I don’t. If you aren’t going to see anyone else during this...trial dating...neither will I, Nic. I think I want this as much as you do, so I’m all in too”, she said with sweet honesty.

“Wait...you think you want this?”, Nicole asked nervously, emphasizing ‘think’.

“I do, Nic, I do want this. And right now… I also really want to kiss you”, she said low and seductively.

“What about Gus and Curtis?”, she asked apprehensively.

“If Champ was here, the bar must be closed. I think they’ll be gone for a while”.

“Are-are you sure, Waves?”

“Yes, Nic”, she said softly. She stood, taking Nicole’s hand in hers, leading her up the stairs towards her room. She wasn’t sure this was the best thing to do, blurring the lines of their trail dating with sex, tipsy sex, and it certainly wasn’t her plan when the redhead agreed to come over, but she couldnt’t help herself. She missed so many things about Nicole, and toe curling, mind blowing, out of body back into body sex was one of them. She’d deal with any backlash tomorrow, but right now, she just wanted to take Nicole to her room, in her bed the older girl was so familiar with, and be fucked into tomorrow.

“Ok, Waves”, was all a slightly buzzed and aroused Nicole could say. She didn’t think the night would lead to sex, but she wasn’t going to complain. To have Waverly underneath her again, like old times in the younger girls’ bed, calling her name, gripping her arms and clawing at her back and shoulders was all Nicole had thought about for the last 10 months. Was this blurring the lines of their trail dating, maybe, but there was so much history and familiarity between the two of them, Nicole didn’t care. She just wanted Waverly in every way possible. She was going to make Waverly scream her name as she fucked her hard, making up for all the lost time, and maybe, maybe making her forget Champ ever had her.

They disappeared into Waverly’s room once they hit the top of the stairs. They wouldn’t come out until the following morning...late morning to be exact.

\-----

Nicole and Waverly have been spending more time together. They hadn't had sex since that night at Waverly's. It had been weeks and they didn't want to blur the lines of their budding friend/relationship again. They were now texting on and off throughout the day and talking on the phone most nights. It was like when they first started dating all those years ago. Nicole had been over to hang out some nights and have dinner with the family and Waverly had done the same at Nicole's. 

"Hey, Waves!"

"Hey, Nic!"

They greeted each other as Nicole entered Shorty's and approached the bar. Her 12 hour shift at the station had ended 4 hours ago but she needed to take a quick nap before going to see Waverly and she wanted to freshen up.

“How was your day?”, the younger girl asked.

“Very long, but not too bad. Glad to be here now though…”, she said trailing off, smiling at the brunette.

Waverly blushed and ducked her head. She didn’t know why but all of a sudden she felt shy. She continued wiping the bar down between stealing glances at Nicole as she went on about her shift. She served Nicole a burger and fries and a beer. She planned to join he soon as her shift was over at 10pm.

“Mind if I join you?”, the younger girl asked.

“Of course not, Waves. Can I get you anything?”

“I have a veggie burger and beer coming, but thanks”.

They sat, ate, talked and drank, losing track of time just enjoying either other’s company. It was midnight when they realized the time; and they were once again each a bit tipsy. Nicole was off for the next 3 days after pulling the long shift and Waverly was off the next day.

“Why don’t you kids head upstairs and sleep these off”, Shorty said gesturing to the numerous shots glasses and beer bottles around their table.

“Aww, I’m ok, Shorty”, Nicole said. The brunette shook her head in agreeance.

“You may think you are, but it’s not a good look for one of Purgatory’s finest to be drunk driving or walking home”.

“Oh, I’m not an officer, Shorty.”

“ Yet, Nicole. You’re not an officer, yet”, Waverly reminded her with a hopeful smile laced with a hint of something else. Now it was Nicole’s turn to blush.

“Exactly. So you two head on up for a bit and try to rest off these drinks before you head out.”

“You got it, Shorty. C’mon Officer Haught”, Waverly said as she grabbed the redhead’s arm and started walking them toward the stairs. The way she was holding onto the older girl sent sparks through both of them.

As they climbed the stairs the heat between the two of them grew. By the time they reached the door to the apartment, Nicole was roughly pushing Waverly up against the door, running her hands up either side of the brunette’s body as the younger girl weaved her hands into red hair. The kiss was hungry, 3 weeks had passed since they let the passion they felt culminate into this. Of course they shared kisses, deep passionate kisses in the last 3 weeks, but the promise of what would happen once on the other side of the door had them growing more anxious and excited by the minute.

They finally made it into the room and Nicole continued pushing her body into Waverly’s against the other side of the door, grinding her pelvis forward into Waverly’s until the younger girl’s breath caught and she pulled back confused.

“Nic...wha-what is that?”, She asked curious and confused and still decently buzzed.

“It's a little something I bought a couple weeks ago. I-uh, thought you might want to give it a try, ya’know…”

They didn’t go into detail about their encounters with Shae and Champ, but although Waverly never had an orgasm with Champ, it was pretty clear in the way she talked that she somewhat enjoyed sex with the..extra appendage. And since Nicole did not have the anatomy, she thought this was the next best thing. Plus, from experience using it, and who Waverly had dated, she thought she would enjoy it.

“Uh..uhm..did you-did you want to use that...on me?”, she asked hesitantly.

Nicole had went back to kissing at Waverly’s neck and gripping her hips tightly against the door as Waverly spoke.

“Yeah, baby. Do you want to try it? I can make it really fun”, she slightly slurred, trying to sound sexy.

“Uh, I don’t know, Nic. We-I’ve never used one before”, she said nervously.

“I have, baby and it’ll be just like with Champ but better because it’s me”, she husked against the younger girl’s neck. Waverly inwardly and outwardly cringed at the thought of sex with Champ, talking about sex with Champ when she was about to have sex with Nicole and the entire idea of using the toy. She really wasn’t sure she wanted to use it at all. Nicole, still pretty drunk, didn’t notice Waverly’s inner turmoil.

“But what about you-will you even feel anything?”, she was genuinely concerned but more stalling.

“I will baby. There’s a smaller piece on the end that will go inside me. Every thrust”, she punctuated each set of words with a grunt and soft thrust of her pelvis into Waverly, “every push, every stroke and every roll, you feel, I’ll feel. Doesn’t that sound amazing, Waves...baby. Don’t you want us to feel this together?”, she husked. She had shifted them from the door to the bed in milliseconds before the younger girl could even register what happened. She dropped them on the bed gently and situated herself between Waverly’s legs.

“I-I...uhm...ok”, she whispered with honest uncertainty.

“Really, baby!?”, Nicole excitedly asked to confirm.

“Mhm”, and a nervous nod was all Waverly could muster. It’s not that she didn’t want to have sex with the redhead, because she definetly did, but she just didn’t think this would ever be something they would do..use. They had never talked about it before and it made Waverly think about Shae and any other girls Nicole may have slept with...was plain old sex with Waverly boring and not doing it for her anymore? Waverly was quickly sobering up.

Nicole pushed Waverly’s skirt up and quickly pulled the younger girl’s thong off. She kicked her own pants off, leaving her shirt on but popped a couple buttons; she wanted to make this quick because as buzzed as she was, she didn’t think she was going to be able to stay awake much longer.

The air in the room had changed. For Nicole it was hot and charged, but for Waverly it was sad and unsure.

“Ready, baby?”, Nicole asked as coherently as possible with the amount of alcohol she had in her system.

“Mhm”, she choked out.

“Baby, are you really?”, Nicole asked again. She snapped from her drunken haze momentarily when she realized Waverly hadn’t said any actually words to her questions the last few minutes. She pulled back and looked into the brunette’s eyes, searching for doubt. She was drunk so of course she missed it.

“Yeah, yeah, I-I’m sure”, she stammered out, grabbing Nicole’s neck and kissing her quickly, attempting to hide her emotions that were threatening to boil over at any moment.

With that final confirmation from Waverly, Nicole pushed both of the younger girl’s legs up so her knees were pressed against her own breasts (a position they’ve never done) and lined up the toy and slowly pushed it into the younger girl’s semi wet center. She started out slow, wanting to give Waverly a chance to adjust to the toy. She moaned as the smaller end rubbed against her clit and continued her rhythm. She dropped her head to the side and sucked on Waverly’s pulse point. With that immediate contact, Waverly rolled her hips up into Nicole’s. She let out an involuntary moan and dug her nails deeper and harder into Nicole’s shoulders. It wasn't so much the toy that had her body reacting but the tongue on her neck instead. 

The redhead picked up her pace to the sounds of slapping thighs and her own grunts and moans and very soft (forced) moans from Waverly. She was spurred on each time she felt blunt nails dig into her shoulders, which was caused more so by to the slight discomfort the brunette was feeling. 

Waverly gasped and winced at the first contact of the toy. Physically Waverly was there, but mentally she wasn’t. She might as well had been a million miles away...she checked out of the unfamiliar, strange and awkward sex almost as soon as Nicole penetrated her. She just couldn’t find it in herself to enjoy this..it was too foreign and the reasons why Nicole wanted it scared her and only caused her to retreat into her own head even more.

After a few minutes at a steady rhythmic pace and very little sounds from the younger girl, Nicole pulled back and looked at her.

“Are-are you ok, baby?”, she asked concerned, drunk haze fading a bit more.

“Mhm… I-I mean ye-yeah, don’t-don’t stop, Nic.” she said as she tried to feign interest. She rolled her hips forward hard. Nicole shuttered at the movement, forgetting she asked Waverly if she was ok as the end inside her rubbed just the right spot. She resumed her thrusting again, doubling her pace and the snap of her hips.

“Are you close, Waves? I’m so close, baby. Can you come for me, Waves?”, she panted as her orgasm started to build. She kept pounding into Waverly and she couldn't hold back any longer. “Come with me baby, please… I’m coming, Waves!” she shouted past Waverly’s ear as she buried her face in the pillow beside the younger girl’s head as her orgasm coursed through her body. 

A very soft, emotionless “mmmm” was all Waverly could choke out. She’d faked enough orgasms with Champ so she was pretty confident this would end this awkward experience and the redhead would never know. At least she hoped she wouldn’t.

Nicole was breathing heavy beside Waverly. Once the older girl collected herself, she pulled out, and rolled over onto her back with a hard thud and heavy sigh.

“That was amazing, Waves”, she breathed out heavily. The alcohol and her long day was already pulling her under to sleep and she gave in after discarding the toy on the side of the bed.

“Yeah, Nic..it was...great…”, she said disinterestedly. She rolled over onto her side, facing away from the older girl, wiped away the one stray tear that hit her cheek, pull the covers over both of them and fell asleep. She just wanted to forget this entire night. It didn’t feel like her Nicole. It felt like whoever Nicole had become in college..someone who obviously thought plain, vanilla sex with her just wasn’t fun anymore. Maybe they couldn’t...maybe this wouldn’t work after all. She drifted off to sleep to the sound of soft snoring next to her, wondering what she was going to do.

Nicole awoke the next morning to more water and aspirin and note from Waverly saying she would talk to her later. Nicole had hoped they could hang out tonight, maybe give the toy another run. She texted Waverly asking if she wanted to hang out.

Waverly slept terribly. Tossing and turning the whole night with the horrible feeling, and different soreness to match, of the nights activities on her mind. She got up and out early that morning in hopes of avoiding Nicole. She succeeded as the redhead was still passed out from the drinking and vigorous activity just a few hours ago. Waverly threw on her close and snuck out before Nicole awoke. She headed straight for the house and her room.

Nic 12:08pm: Hey Waves. Last night was great! I think, sorry. I think I drank too much again. I don’t remember what happened this time but the way the bed looks I’m sure we had a good time ; ) Want to grab dinner and hang out later?

She was really glad Nicole couldn’t remember the night before this time. She didn’t even want to remember the night.

Waves 12:30pm: Hey. I actually have to go into the city to visit my counselor at the university this evening to go over some things. Maybe tomorrow

Nic 12:35pm: How bout I go with you? Ya’know, keep you company on the road : )

Waves 12:37pm: That’s ok. I may have to be there for a while and I don’t want you to have to wait. Let’s just plan to maybe meet up tomorrow. Speaking of which, I have to prepare some documents and get ready for my meeting. I’ll talk to you later

She didn’t mean to brush the redhead off, but she just didn’t really want to see her right now. She needed time to process what happened and what, if anything, it meant.

Nic 12:39pm: Oh ok… I guess I’ll talk to you later then. Drive careful, Waves

Waves 12:55pm: Thx

She couldn’t figure out why but she felt like the younger girl was avoiding her. Now, she really wished she could remember last night. She hoped she didn’t do anything to push Waverly away, ruin the progress they've made, but she wasn’t sure. Waverly was being awfully distant in her texts.

Waverly managed to be “busy” over the next week and avoided seeing Nicole outside of her shifts at Shorty’s. Even when she saw her there the younger girl made sure to always be needed by a customer, or stocking shelves in the back, anything to keep conversation with the redhead short and brief. A brushing off Nicole did not miss. 

They texted and talked on the phone, but everytime Nicole suggested they get together outside of Shorty’s the younger girl had some excuse why she couldn’t. This act of dodging Nicole went on for a week and a half until Nicole got tired of it and waited for Waverly one night outside of Shorty’s.

“Waverly”, she said pushing herself off the side of the building once Waverly was in view.

“Oh. H-hey, Nic. What’s up?”, she asked nervously, fidgeting with her keys in her hands.

“What’s up? What’s up is that you’ve been avoiding me and I don’t know why. I thought we were making progress, Waves. Did-did I do something wrong?”, she asked through a sad and hurt voice.

“No. I-I’ve just been busy, Nicole. School starts in just over a month and I need to prepare”, she tried to answer evenly, but the hitch and shakiness of her voice gave her away.

“C’mon, Waves. I know we may have taken that stupid break for almost a year, but I still know you...I know when you’re not telling the truth and I know when somethings wrong or off with you”, she responded sternly.

“Really? Do you, Nic? Do you really always know when something’s wrong with me”, she asked with more bite than she intended to.

“I... what does that mean?”, she asked through a contorted brow.

“Just forget it, I need to get home”, as she gently brushed past the older girl and walked towards her jeep.

“Waves, what’s going on? Please talk to me. We’re supposed to be working things out right, or at least trying to? We can’t do that if you won’t talk to me… assuming you still want to work things out...right?”, she was beginning to panic.

There was a long pause as Waverly stood still with her hand on her door handle.

“Waves?”, the older girl said lowly stepping toward the younger girl, voice filled with fear.

“I-I...I don’t.... What was that the other night, Nic? We-we’ve never used...one of those before and you just show up wearing it, wanting to use it and wanting me to be excited about it and want to use it too...in that...position”, she said in a mix of anger and hurt.

“Is that what this is about, why you’ve been ignoring me, pushing me away? Because I wanted to use the...strap on” she asked with a quizzical look and whispering the last part.

“Yes! Couldn’t you tell!”, she shouts. 

The redhead almost jumps back in surprise at the anger in the younger girl's voice. “Can we-can we get in the jeep please, Waves?”, she asks ashamed.

They awkwardly climb into the jeep. Silence falls over them for a bit.

“I guess that was the second major time I wasn’t able to read you correctly…” the older girl says regretfully.

“I could have spoken up more...it’s just that both times you seemed so excited about each thing. The break...using the...thing… I didn’t want to disappoint or upset you”.

“You can say strap on, Waverly”. She said trying to joke.

“No I can’t, Nicole! I can’t because it makes everything that you did with Shae and whoever else you slept with real! It means that you think sex with me is so boring you have to use that stupid…toy! It means we’ve had sex exactly 3 times since we started whatever this is we're doing, and you or both of us were drunk each time, like you can’t have sex with me unless you’re drunk! It means I’m your stupid boring little high school ex-girlfriend that you’ve out grown!”. She was breathing heavy and crying after having vented all of her frustrations to Nicole.

Nicole just sat there. Absorbing everything the younger girl had said. Trying to find the right words to say rather than the wrong words to only further piss the brunette off.

“Waves… I don’t know where to start… I’m sorry I forced you to do something you didn’t want to do… I’ll never forgive myself for that..for not recognizing you didn’t want to use it, drunk or not. And for the record I only used one with Shae, I didn’t sleep with anyone else. Sex...making love with you has never been boring, Waverly. I absolutely love having sex with and making love to you, and I always will, Waves. As for me or us being drunk...I think it just takes the pressure off things. I doesn’t mean I’m not attracted to you. It just means I’m not nervous around you like I am when I’m sober. I’m still so afraid I’m going to fuck things up again, Waves....And you were never my stupid boring high school ex-girlfriend. You were always my smart, sexy, funny as hell, amazing and beautiful girlfriend..and I hope one day you will be again. I want to grow with you Waves, I could never outgrow the love of my life...ever. I love you, Waves. I’m so, so sorry I misread you that night. I would have never wanted to use it if I knew it was going to cause you so much pain. I’m sorry I couldn’t see or realize that before. Can-can you forgive me, Waves...for everything?” She had said things she didn’t even know she needed to say and apologized for everything like she knew she needed to a long time ago. She just hoped it wasn’t too late.

"I-I just want you, Nic… all of just you. And the… strap on made it feel like I was with someone else...someone I didn't know and it-it scared me. It wasn't that it didn't feel good or that I couldn't enjoy it, it's just, I wasn't used to it with you. We've always been so close when we were...close. But with that, it made you feel so far away when you were right there with me. I honestly don't know if that's something I'll ever be able to enjoy, and if that's a deal breaker in this for you then...I-I'm sorry.

"No, baby. Nothing is a deal breaker for me. I want you-this-us, Waves. I'm not going anywhere unless you tell me too.

She paused for a minute fidgeting with the buttons on her shirt.

"Did you at least enjoy any part of it?", she asked hesitantly. 

"Uhm..n-no… not really. Well being close to you yes, but other than that...", she replied nervously. 

"Oh ok. So then you didn't...finish at the end...did you?, now she was asking nervously. 

"Uhm..n-no… I didn't" she trailed off looking down at her hands.

"So you... faked it?", Nicole asked in a mixture of hurt and very slight anger. 

Shyly, she replied, "mmhmm", looking down.

Nicole was hurt, more than anything her pride was hurt. "Have-have you ever faked it before… with me, I mean?"

"No! No, Nic, never with you. It's just I used to with Champ and I knew it was a sure way to end it and you would be happy".

"Waves, that night, or any night between us for that matter, is never just about my happiness. It's about yours too. You have to know that…", she said in a concerned tone.

The younger girl just shook her head.

"Are we ok, Waves? Like, can we get passed this and keep working towards getting back together?", she asked hopefully.

"We're ok, Nic. And yes, we can keep working towards getting back together. But please, if you ever want to try something new...in bed...please talk to me first so we can be on the same page. I love you, Nic and we've never had a problem communicating before...except that one time we ended up taking a year long break because I didn't speak up", she joked, Nicole blushed and laughed, "so please, just talk to me and I promise I'll speak up more, ok?"

"Ok, Waves", she said smiling. 

They sat and stared at one another for almost 3 minutes before Waverly leaned over and kissed Nicole. She conveyed as much love into the kiss trying to tell the older girl, they would be ok, that everything would work out.

They both knew deep down they really would be ok. But the road there was going to be a long one.


	8. My Kinda Girl

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> College life begins for Waverly and continues for Nicole.

The girls had been spending almost every day together and texted and talked throughout the day. They were in a much better place in their 'relationship' than they were at the beginning of summer, but with classes starting in a week Waverly had that same terrible feeling in her stomach she had the night before Nicole left for college.

They had talked here and there about how they could possibly navigate what they were once school started, but neither wanted to ask the burning question on both of their minds, are we back together?

It was the Friday before school started, they were hanging out in Nicole's room, Waverly lying on the bed, Nicole seated at her desk, and they had finally decided to have 'the talk'. Both were equally nervous, though they weren't sure if they other could tell; they were both trying so hard to play it off.

"So…", the redhead started.

"So…" the brunette followed.

"I think we should get back together! Give it-us another try!", she blurted out.

"Really?! Oh God, Waves, I didn't know if you'd want to. I would love to get back together", she said happily.

"So how do we do this...go back like when we were together before? You know, as far as spending time together and stuff?"

"Well, yeah. I think we stick to what we're doing now. I mean we were basically together all of summer minus the title. Do um… do you want to talk about living arrangements?", the older girl asked nervously. 

"Well, when I applied they assigned me a room in the freshman hall along with a roommate. I didn't think I would be allowed to live with you, if that's what you're asking, considering you're a sophomore. But at that time we weren't really a 'thing' yet so I just planned for the normal freshmen living. 

"Well Wynonna and I applied together so we could room together, but you're right… we weren't even a thing at that time. Where is your dorm? Were you planning on moving in this weekend or Monday? Do you need any help?"

"I'm in Citrus Hall, 2nd floor, I think. I was going to move in Sunday if I could get Nonna to help me and Gus to drive us up. But if you'd like to go up early and help me set up...maybe you could...crash the night with me", she said the last part with a wink.

"Oh. I think that's all the way across campus from me. I'm in Sierra Tower...it's about a 30 minute walk. But I can help you move in and of course crash with you for the night", she said smiling back. She was a little bothered that the younger girl was so far away from her but at least they were at the school and back together. She noted she would need to probably upgrade her scooter to a bike and maybe get Waverly a matching one too.

"Ok, perfect. Who are you rooming with, same person as last year?", the younger girl asked to make conversation. 

"I'm actually in a room by myself. When I moved out of the room I shared with Wynonna they had a last minute opening for a single in the coed dorm. So I have my own room which is nice for privacy and company". She started to smile but decided against it when she saw Waverly sadly look down. She knew what she was thinking.

"Oh...um…", she trailed off.

"Waverly, you know at some point we're going to need to be able to talk about the people we dated and the things we did when we were apart. Freezing up every time its almost brought up isn't healthy for our relationship", she said softly but matter of factly.

"People?? You dated someone other than Shae? And I think I know of at least one of the 'things' you did…"

"I meant me dating Shae and you dating Champ, people. I told you, Waves, I didn't date anyone else. By things I just meant...our experiences in general...not 'those' types of things…", she blushed when she said the last part.

"Oh right...well I only dated Champ and as far as experiences...I don't think you really want to hear too much about Champ… do you?"

"Uh, hell no, not really", she said laughing.

"So we both only dated one person and we really don't want to talk about the experiences with each...perfect!"

"Ha ha, very funny, Nic. They are our pasts, will parts of those relationships seep into ours now, possibly. But hopefully just the positive things we learned in each", she said in her typical Waverly perkiness.

"There were positives to dating Champ?", she mocks.

"There were positives to dating Shae?", she throws back and giggles.

"Touche...touche."

"Well now that that's settled, girlfriend", she couldn't help but smile and flash her dimples at the use of the title", what do you want to do for the rest of the night? It is Friday after all."

"Cuddle, pizza, beer and a movie!?" The younger girl yipped.

"Sounds good to me, baby", she said as she made her way to the bed to lay next to the younger girl.

*****

Sunday morning rolls around and between Curtis's truck, Wynonna's truck, Nicole's car and Waverly's jeep, all 3 girls are packed and ready to head off to school. They all drive their respective vehicles, each mostly holding some of the younger girls various clothes and books.

After a tearful goodbye with Gus and Curtis, and a promise that all the girls will lookout for each other and especially Waverly, Waverly officially starts her first night as a college student.

After getting settled in, Waverly finally meets her roommate, Jessie. Jessie is an outgoing, adventurous blonde, about Waverly's height and build from the big city. Waverly thinks to herself she's glad her roommate is cool since she'll likely be considered a nerd by college standards.. But Jessie immediately takes to Waverly planning out all the fun parties they'll go to together, the classes they should take together and almost how many people they hook up with until Waverly mentions Nicole. 

"All that sounds amazing and I'm totally game...except for the last part. I kinda have a girlfriend", she says almost as if it makes her seem less appealing as a friend to her new roommate. 

"Bummer. Does she go here?", the blonde asked.

"She does actually. She's a sophomore".

"Ohhh, dating an older woman I see. Did you guys meet on campus over the summer at one of the meet and greet parties?"

"No we met in high school and have...had been together for a couple years".

"Have...had?...", she asked curiously.

"Yeah, we up broke up last year before she started college. Wanted to give each other space to experience new people and stuff".

"Curious...how'd that work out? Since you're obviously back together."

"It um..it we-we both met and dated other people rather quickly after the break up, and them we each broke up with or got broken up with by them before this past summer. Then we kinda started dating again in the summer and officially got back together before school started." Waverly wasn't sure why she just spilled her soul and entire relationship history to this girl she didn't even know. But for some reason she seemed trustworthy. 

"Cliche drama, much?", she chuckled. "So then you really didn't get to experience dating if you only dated one other person?" She gave Waverly a look she couldn't really decipher. Was she flirting or just being friendly?

"I-uh, experienced enough I think. I'm good", she tried to say with strong confidence. She didn't want Jessie to think there was any gray areas in her relationship with Nicole.

"Hmm...we'll see…", the blonde said cryptically. 

But before Waverly could respond there was a knock at the door. She opened it to find her girlfriend standing there in a blue button up, black skinny jeans and all black chucks...she looked amazing the younger girl thought.

"Hey, babe", the older girl slowly drawled as she wrapped her arms around the younger girl's waist pulling her in for a kiss in the doorway. 

Jessie could see what was happening from her spot in the room but couldn't make out who the tall girl was standing outside of it.

"Hi, babe", the younger girl returned the greeting once the kiss broke. Come in, I want you to meet my roommate Jessie!" She said excitedly. 

"Nicole, Jessie, Jessie, my girlfriend, Nicole", she said proudly. 

"The famous girlfriend ay… nice to meet you", she quipped.

Something about her tone didn't sit well with Nicole. "I'm famous already...hm..nice to meet you too, Jessie". She shook her hand a little harder than she needed but she wasn't sure why.

"Well, I'll let you two love birds love on each other. I'm going to cruise campus for some single chicks and dicks", she said with a laugh and a wink. "Later Bubbles! Red!", she threw over her shoulder as she reached the door.

"Bubbles?", Waverly questioned with a quilted eyebrow. 

"You know, from the Powder Puff Girls? Bubbles was all sweet, innocent, perky and super cute but could also kick your ass… my kinda girl", she said with a stare that lingered a bit too long on Waverly. "That's you...Bubbles! See ya!" And she was out the door.

"Hmm..so my roommate seems….fun", she said as she stared at the door, obviously thinking about something. 

"Yeah..she sure is. She's already called you cute and given you a nickname...she's sounds awesome", Nicole trailed off. And there it was. The way Jessie had lingered longer than necessary looking and Waverly, the nickname and the Way Waverly stared at the door obviously in thought...Nicole would be lying if she said she wasn't a bit concerned. Concerned and worried that her girlfriend's roommate obviously had a crush on. How was she supposed to keep her cool with Waverly living with this girl, sleeping next to the girl when she was all the way across campus…

She trusted Waverly. God knows they've been through enough, but she couldn't help thinking about her first week in college..meeting Shae and drunkenly hooking up with her. But Waverly would never do that. Not with them being together, not with everything they've been through. But that lingering look at the door...Nicole didn't know what to think.

Jessie managed to stay out all night somehow, so the girls decided to christen Waverly's second night in a college dorm. There was only 1 shot taken between the two of them in celebration before they got tangled in one another. Without the alcohol, there was as much love and passion between them as it always had been, maybe even more so now that they both had a few new tricks to share. It's as if they didn't miss a beat.

They finally succumbed to exhaustion from moving and sex in the early morning hours. Neither had class till around noon so sleeping in wasn't going to be a problem. But before she closed her eyes and gave in to sleep with the love of her life resting naked and peacefully on her chest, holding her tightly, she couldn't help but think what, or who might actually be a problem...Jessie and her obvious attraction to Waverly. What was she going to do…

*****

The first week of school had come to an end and the girls couldn't be more excited. They had talked about going to a party Friday night, a discussion neither took lightly. 

But when Jessie invited herself to tag along, Nicole began to feel uneasy. 

"So, Bubbles, Red… we hittin any parties tonight?" She asked excitedly.

"Uh yeah. Waves and I were thinking of going to one at her sister's dorm.", she replied evenly. Not wanting to make it sound like an invite but not wanting it to not sound like an invite. 

Waverly looked at her girlfriend from her spot at the foot on the bed as the taller girl sat at the desk.

"Would um, would you like to come with us?", the brunette asked the blonde.

"I thought you'd never ask! I finally get to meet the other famous girl in your life! Don't worry, soon enough I'll be the 3rd" she said with a wink that for some reason had Waverly blushing. 

Noticing the moment between the two, the older girl stood up. 

"Ok! Let's get going, shall we? Have everything you need, Waves? Maybe Wy will let me and you crash at her place tonight".

"Me too?!" Jessie piped up.

Nicole sighed louder than necessary. 

"I'm sure she won't mind", Waverly said cheerfully, shooting a look at the redhead. 

Jessie noticed the look between the two and decided to give them a minute. 

"I'm going to hit the restroom before we go. I'll meet you guys in the hall".

"Nic, what's going on with you? Why are you so against Jessie hanging out with us?", she asked a little annoyed. 

"Waverly… seriously… Can't you see that she's attracted to you? She flirts with you constantly. I can only imagine how much she flirts when I'm not around!"

"Why are you yelling at me, Nic? Even if she is flirting, its harmless and I'm not flirting with her, so what's the big deal?!"

"The big deal, Waves, is that we just got back together. We went through a lot to get here and I just don't want all our hard work to be disrupted by some girl with a crush on you", she said softly.

"Nic...babe...it won't be. Nothing can come between us anymore ok, I promise."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, Nic. I'm sure. Me and you forever, right?", she said through a big, moon eyed smile. "C'mon my big, strong, protector, let's head over to Nonna's."

They met Jessie in the hall and headed out.

*****

"So the academy starts the week after the next and I'm going to be pretty busy, unfortunately. Training is for 3 months since I'm also going to school for my degrees in Criminology and Psychology. Good thing I took those pre-academy courses my first year or else I'd be in training for 6 months."

"And with my pre-college advanced courses in high school I'm already 12 units in so I'll be taking 2 credential courses which will keep me pretty busy while you're busy; this way we'll both be too busy to realize how much we miss each other", she said the last part with a hopeful chuckle. 

"Waves, I'm still going to miss you… but we'll talk every day when we can and hang out every chance we get, and the days we can't hang out you can always hang out what Wynonna so you won't be by yourself", the redhead said with sad eyes.

"Or me! Don't forget about me!", Jessie threw in from her side of the room. 

"How could I forget you…", Nicole grumbled under her breath.

"Of course, Jess, and you too", Waverly said with a soft smile.

"But not tonight cause I have a date with a smokin' hot sophomore", she said winking at the couple. "You didn't think you were the only hot young thing in this room that could pull an older girl did you?", that wink was directed at Waverly who again for some reason, blushed. "See ya ladies!", she shot over her shoulder as she made her way out of the room.

Waverly could see Nicole still fuming at Jessie's comments and decided to do something to calm her nerves.

As the older girl sat on the edge of the twin bed, Waverly strode over with a sex walk and planted a soft kiss on the older girl's lips.

"What was that for?", she asked.

"Well, Jessie is gone for the next few hours and you and I aren't likely to have too much free time together in the next few weeks, we should take advantage of this time we have together". She had leaned over and kissed the redhead again before climbing on her lap and straddling her.

"Hmm..you make a good point Ms. Earp. But whatever should we do about it?", she asked in a low, lust filled voice.

Before she could say another word Waverly had climbed off her lap, ran over and locked the door, snaking a sock on the handle before she did, something Nicole would have to ask her about later, and returned to standing in front of the redhead, between her knees. She pulled her shirt off, slowly unhooked and removed her bra, then dropped to her knees between Nicole's legs. 

She looked up at the older girl as she slowly unbuckled her belt and unbuttoned her jeans. They held eye contact the entire time. Nicole couldn't help the giddy smile that appeared on her face. Waverly pulled the zipper down slowly and whispered a firm 'up' so the redhead would lift her hips so she could slide her Jean's off.

Once off, she eyed the redheads wet center and licked her lips. "Damn, baby", was all she could say staring at the sight in front of her".

"Shit, Waves", she breathed as the cool air hit her and she watched Waverly stare at her glistening center as if it were a snack.

The brunette slowly slid her tongue up and down the slit before slowly pushing it in. She moaned as she reached up and pushed the redhead to lie flat on her back, "relax and enjoy while I fuck you, baby", she lustfully said. 

"Waves… baby...unggghh...where-where's this coming from?", she choked out.

"Shh. Just relax sexy, and let me make you feel good".

She slid 2 fingers in the older girl and worked her to a comfortable stretch before adding a 3rd. Nicole moaned and rocked her hips in time with Waverly's thrusts and tongue strokes.

The younger girl had hooked both of the long legs over her shoulders and placed 2 pillows under her own knees for comfort. She kept up licking and stroking the older girl with her right hand as her left hand traveled up the redhead's torso until it reached a plump, soft breast and a hard nipple. She kneaded the redhead's breast and twisted and pulled the nipple, Nicole moaned louder at the action, dropping her right hand from above her head to the side of her thigh as she grabbed tightly at the sheets. Waverly grabbed her hand and placed it on top of her own head, encouraging Nicole to pull her hair. "Pull, baby", she whispered.

Nicole, while she was enjoying everything they were doing, was a bit thrown off with all the new things Waverly wanted to do. Waverly rarely ever cursed, and never referred to their sex as "fucking", she never 'got down on her knees' for Nicole and she definitely never asked Nicole to pull her hair. She was almost afraid to ask her where she learned these new things, but the thought was quickly washed from her mind as she felt her orgasm building. 

"Are you coming, baby? I can feel your pussy squeezing my fingers. Come for me, Nicky", she choked out pass the wet center in front of her.

"Waves, oh, oh, oh shit, I'm gon- wait...Nicky?!- oh fuckkk, Waves!!", she shouted into the room. She had seen stars multiple times before with Waverly, maybe once with Shae, but this...this was different. She was sure she blacked out for a second right after she thought she heard Waverly call her Nicky… she's never called her Nicky. 

She finally came down, as Waverly slowly continued to lap at her center and work her fingers inside her until she came completely down. 

"God… you taste so fucking good. Nic", she breathed out as she made her way to her feet, rubbing her knees. She licked her fingers one last time before climbing back on top of the redhead and kissing her hard.

"Mmm, Waves, baby", she chuckled, "slow down, gimme a second to catch my breath. That was- that was..different." At Waverly's halted breath she quickly finished, "but in a good way. It was just different for us. You've never been so forward before. And the way you were talking was...really fucking sexy. I think I blacked out for a second but I think I heard you call me, Nicky?"

Waverly had laid her head down on Nicole's still cover chest. She chuckled at how funny they would look to Jessie if she walked in right now. Nicole bare from the waist down, splayed out on the brunette's bed. And Waverly naked from the waist up, straddling the redhead as they both lay heaving for breath on the bed.

"Yeah, I don't know what came over me. I guess I just..wanted to try something new. I heard dirty talk can amp things up sometimes. And Nicky just kind of slipped out...sorry I know you don't like it ", she said slightly apologetically. 

"You heard dirty talk can amp things up? Who'd you hear that from?", she asks curiously. 

"Uh, Jessie mentioned it", she said shyly. 

"Jessie? Why were you talking about sex with Jessie?", she asked and it came out a little harsher than she wanted. 

Waverly slowly sat up, maneuvering herself off the older girl, grabbing her discarded shirt and holding it to her chest as she leaned back against the wall. So much for reciprocity. 

"We-we were just talking about a bunch of different things and sex kinda came up.", she said cautiously.

Nicole had shot up once Waverly climbed off her and quickly reached for her boy shorts and Jean's which were laying on the floor right next to the bed. She pulled both on quickly, ignoring her zipper, button and belt buckle and sat back down across from Waverly. 

"It kinda came up?" All the blushing looks Waverly gave Jessie and the flirtatious comments from the blonde over the last 2 weeks were sitting in the back of Nicole's mind causing her to speak a little louder and a little harsher than she intended. "Waverly, I-is something going on with you and Jessie? I mean I know she's your roommate, which I can't do anything about, but what else did you guys talk about when it comes to sex? I see the way she looks at you and the way she's always flirting and-and every time she gives you a comment you blush… what the hell is going on, Waverly?"

Waverly was off the bed, pulling her shirt back on in a angry, quick motion. Nicole was so taken back by Waverly's angry movement she couldn't react quick enough to get off the bed so she sat there staring up at the younger girl.

"What?! What the hell are you talking about, Nic?! Are YOU accusing ME of cheating? That's a little hypocritical don't you think? Like I told you before, absolutely nothing is going on with Jessie and I, she's just my roommate, Nicole! So we talked about sex and she may have gave me some ideas for some new things to try, but she knows I would only be trying them with you! And how dare you accuse me of cheating on you, Nic." Her voice fell softer at the last comments but remained sharp and hard. "After everything we've been through, how could you think I would do that to you? Do you still feel guilty because its basically what you did? I thought we were passed this, Nicole. I forgave you for what you did, and I haven't even done anything and you're treating me like I've been sleeping with Jessie since school started...like I'm not allowed to have any friends other than you. How is that fair, Nic?" She had calmed down considerably, but now she was more hurt than anything else. Nicole didn't trust her. She didn't believe her when she said her and Jessie were just roommates. She couldn't wipe the tears away fast enough. 

"Waves, I'm-I'm, I'm sorry. I don't know why I can't let this go. I do believe you, Waves and I do trust you, of course I trust you, I just… I don't want to lose you, I'm so afraid of losing you, Waves, that I'm not even realizing that I'm pushing you away. Maybe it is fear that you'll do what I did. But Waves, I didn't cheat on you, we were broken up. And I do trust you, but I don't trust Jessie. Not with the way she looks at you and talks to you", she said trying to convey her regretfulness for her actions as much as possible. 

Nicole had finally got her legs to move and they were standing face to face at this point. She even had the wherewithal to button up and buckle her pants somewhere during the conversation. 

"You don't need to trust her, Nic, you need to trust me... I-I think you should go, Nic. I need some time to think", she said in a voice barely above a whisper, breaking eye contact. 

"Baby-I, I'm sorry. Can I please stay so we can talk about this? I know I need to let it go and I will, baby, but please don't make me go. I know we can fix this, I'm sorry", she pleads.

"There's nothing WE need to fix Nicole. You just need to figure out if you really do trust me and believe me when I say nothing is happening with Jessie and I. Nothing is broken, we don't need to be fixed… but you need to figure out why you don't trust what I say and I think you should go back to your room and do that...now..", she said trailing off. "Have a good night, Nicole. I'll talk to you later", as she walked to her door and opened it, gesturing for Nicole to leave. 

"Waves… please...I'm sorry. I-I I'll do better… I promise. I don't want to go… I love you", she said sadly pausing at the door hoping Waverly wouldn't really kick her out. Waverly didn't falter, or look at her for that matter, so she dropped her head and walked out the door. Unsure of where her and Waverly now stood in the relationship. 

"I love you too, Nic", was whispered from quivering, tear stained lips against a cold, closed door.

Why was this so hard..it was all so easy before the break up… they both thought.


	9. I Can't Bang My Roommate; It Felt Like Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> All good things must come to an end.

The girls had spoken here and there, mostly through text messages. Waverly had to reassure Nicole a couple times that they're weren't broken up, just not seeing each other to give the redhead a chance to figure things out.

Nicole hated it but decided she would do whatever the younger girl wanted if she thought it would end this glamorized silent treatment. She knew she needed to move past the little crush Jessie so blatantly had on Waverly and trust her girlfriend as she knew deep down the girl would never cheat on her, even considering she hooked up with Shae when they hadn't even been broken up a 2 weeks yet. 

She spent the next week seriously thinking about if she truly trusted Waverly and she did, she always did. She just really didn't trust Jessie. But she pushed thoughts of Jessie out of her mind and focused on her and Waverly instead and what she could do to end this stupid silence. She missed the younger girl and with both of their schedules sure to be booked solid soon, she didn't want to waste anymore time not being around her.

Waverly was spending most of her, new, free time studying in the library or in her room, however after an awkward encounter with Jessie she wanted to spend as little time in her room as possible. 

It had been the first Friday after Nicole and Waverly, well Waverly, decided they would give each other space to think. Waverly had told Jessie bits and pieces of what happened, purposely leaving out that it was basically over her, and Jessie jumped at the chance to go partying with her newly single roommate, although Waverly had repeatedly reminded her she wasn't single. Later that night Waverly had just returned from the showers in just her towel and slippers as she didn't think Jessie was back in the room. When she entered she was met by Jessie changing her shirt, leaving her currently shirtless, when Waverly walked in.

"Well, if I had known all it took to get me out of my shirt and you completely naked was a shower and a miscommunication I would have done it weeks ago", she said with a low voice and a wink to the brunette. 

Waverly again blushed but tried to play it off.

"Ha ha, very funny, Jess. I'll just grab my clothes and go change in the bathroom", she said shyly.

"Don't Be silly, Waverly. You can change in front of me. I won't peek..unless you want me to. You know, now that you and the angry ginger aren't together anymore we should just speed up the traditional roommate hook up, its bound to happen, so why not sooner rather than later?", she asked in seductive voice as she closed the space between her and the brunette. Her fingers were playing with the bottom of Waverly's towel and the blush Waverly had been sporting had turned into a quizzical, confused stare instead. 

"Jessie, I told you, Nicole and I aren't broken up. And weird tradition or not, you and I are not hooking up". She said as she maneuvered her way around the blonde. She didn't feel threatened, or unsafe or even uncomfortable, she just felt, angry. Angry that Jessie was this shallow and angry that Nicole had been right, but mostly angry at herself because she didn't see that Jessie was in to her, she was trying to turn a friendship into more.

"Jessie, I'm not sure why you thought there would be anything between us, even if Nicole and I weren't together, but we're roommates, we have to live together. I'd rather not muddy up those waters by doing something as rash as hooking up. I hope you can understand that. You're a really great, fun and cool person, but I just don't see you that way, I'm sorry", she tried to say sympathetically. 

She was standing near the door with her clothes in her hands, looking over at the blonde who herself didn't look too surprised or hurt by the brunette's words.

"Well I could pretend to be really hurt and sad, but I guess I'm just too shallow to let it bother me too much and too long. I mean, it's college, even if I can't bang my roommate I can bang someone else's!", she said oddly cheerily. "No hard feelings, Waves. I thought I had a shot, I decided to shoot it...and I missed terribly," she laughed. "But you know what they say, well angry ginger probably does, you miss 100% of the shots you don't take. Don't worry about changing in the bathroom, I'm headed out anyway. Stay, get changed and have amazing phone sex with red while I'm gone. I'll catch you later, Waves. Get it ...catch ya later...and your name is Waves..and you catch a wave…" she laughed to herself and she threw on her shirt and headed for the door. Waverly just chuckled and stepped aside to get dressed.

"Dammit", she said out loud.

She knew she needed to call Nicole and kinda sorta apologize for how she misread Jessie's intentions with her. Waverly wasn't a prideful person. She had no problem apologizing to Nicole, especially if it meant getting her back in her arms again. 

*****

Waves 9:04am: Hey Nic. Are you free around lunch today, say 1230?

Nic 9:10am: I’m always free for you Waves : ) want to meet at Hennly Hall? We can grab lunch at the pub

Waves 9:12am: Sounds good, Nic, see you then

Nicole didn’t want to get too excited at the idea of seeing Waverly again because she had no clue what the younger girl was going to say. She only hoped that after a week and a half of limited conversation and no in person interaction that Waverly that the brunette was willing to hear her out this time. She knew she needed to apologize profusely, she just needed Waverly to give her a chance.

****

“Hey, Waves”, Nicole said shyly as she got up from her seat at the table as Waverly approached. She wanted to kiss her but she wasn’t sure if they were there yet.

“Hey, Nic”, as she got closer he opened her arms for a hug, an awkward hug it kinda turned into as Nicole clearly wasn’t expecting it. Before pulling away she stopped with her forehead just under the taller girls chin, and looked up through shy, uncertain eyes. 

Nicole knew that look, she knew what it meant, she wasn’t going to misread her love yet again so she leaned down and kissed her. It was quick, but passionate. She was sure she even heard the younger girl moan as she slid her hands around the brunette’s waist and rested them on her lower back. Waverly brought her hands up around the taller girls nape, playing with the hair at the nape of her neck.

Waverly sighed into the kiss and held tightly to Nicole. Although she was still a little hurt that it seemed like Nicole didn’t trust her, she had to admit she missed the redhead since they hadn’t seen each other and barely spoke.

“I missed you so much, Nic”, she said as the kiss broke and she buried her face in Nicole’s chest, a place she always felt safe. Before they could even sit down she was apologizing to Nicole. The older girl just held her close, relishing the feeling of the younger girl in her arms again.

“I’m so sorry, Nic. You-you were right about Jessie. I’m so sorry I didn’t believe you”, she said as a sniffle escaped and she fought back tears.

“Hey, hey, Waves, it’s ok. You don’t have to apologize, baby. I didn’t want to be right, I promise. But I’m sorry. Even if it turned out she was interested in you, you were right. I should have trusted you. Trusted that you would never do anything to jeopardize our relationship. So I’m sorry I didn’t handle my emotions better and trust you. I know our relationship means just as much to you as it does to me and I should have trusted that.”

They had finally sat down, side by side and Waverly proceeded to tell Nicole what happened.

“Thanks for telling me, Waves. I think it would be best for a while that you came to my dorm. I don’t think I can see Jessie and not say something and I don’t want to make things awkward for you and her. Since you’re roommates”, she said lovingly.

“Thank you, Nic. And I know its really early to even think about, but I’m going to request a room change next semester. Although she seems like she’s over her little crush on me, I still think it would be best.”

"I think that's a good idea, Waves. Do to-do you want to talk about rooming together?", Nicole asked shyly.

"I would love to live together, Nic, but I think since we jut got back together that we take things a little slower..if that's ok with you…", she we afraid to reject her girlfriend, but she didn't want to rush into such a big step in their relationship when they just got back together. 

"Of course I want to eventually live together and start our lives together, but I don't quite think we're there just yet...are you mad?"

"No, baby, of course not. I totally understand but I wanted to ask in case you were thinking of it. So are we cool now? Can this tortuous 'break' pleassssee be over now? I miss you, Waves…", she said with a puppy face.

"God yes! I've missed you too! So much!", she said as she pulled Nicole in for a passionate kiss.

****

Things for the girls as a couple were finally starting to settle into a normal, comfortable routine. They had each started their rigorous schedules and would hang out whenever they found time, mostly in Nicole’s room. That was usually only 2 or 3 times a week as they were both tired from their long days of studying or training. When Saturday rolled around Nicole had to be at the academy from 8am-2pm and would usually crash when she got home until about 7pm. Waverly would come over then. Sundays they usually had the whole day to themselves until about 7pm when they both wanted to get prepped for the week.

Jessie was no longer an issue as she had been dating a senior girl for the past month, to Waverly and Nicole’s happiness. The girls couldn’t be happier with and in their relationship.

*****

At the start of the second semester of the year Nicole was finishing up the academy and Waverly was plugging away at her teaching degree.

Nicole had gotten a part time job as campus security to get a small taste of the officer's life. One of her first assignments as campus office Haught was the late night escort of a girl from the library to her car across campus. The only info she had on the girl was that she needed to be picked up near the main library and driven to her dorm room which was about a 30 minute walk, 15 minute ride away.

She pulled up in the security golf cart at the bottom of the 40 something stairs that lead to the library. She heard the double doors open and saw a tall girl wearing a hoodie walking down the stairs in her direction talking on her phone. As the girl got closer she recognized the voice and her heart quickly started beating faster. Not out of excitement but more out of panic. She hadn’t heard that voice or that laugh since earlier in the year. Her heart clenched and sputtered. It was Shae. 

“Hey, babe I have to call you back, my security escort is here to drop me off at your dorm. I’ll see you in about 15…” she paused when she realized who was driving the security golf cart, “15 minutes. Ye-yeah, love you too”, she said with hesitation as she has just walked up on the cart.

“Uh, hey Shae. You called for a ride to your dorm?” Her hand had found its way to the back of her neck as she rubbed it nervously.

“Nicky...wow. You were serious about being a cop. I thought was just something clever to say to try and sweet talk me”, she said dryly.

“Uhm...did-did you need a ride?” she asked again, trying not to be annoyed by the statement.

Shae chuckled. “Yeah, I do. To my boyfriends apartment across campus”, she said with a smirk.

Boyfriend, Nicole thought. And she gave me shit about Waverly, seems like she moved on just as fast. “ Uh hop on and drive you over”, the redhead said evenly.

The first few minutes of the ride was quiet, thankfully Nicole thought. Not only was this the most awkward 15 minutes of her life, it was the longest. Nothing like riding in a car with an ex you basically just used to pass the time.

“So, how was your summer, the internship and school so far?”, Shae finally asked breaking the awkward silence with a question she knew was loaded.

“It uh, it was good. It was nice to be back home with my aunt and uncle, although they travelled a bit. The internship was also good. Might even have a job waiting for me once I finish school which is pretty cool. How was your summer and the internship?”

It’s like Shae couldn’t wait to brag.

“Oh you know. Med school summer programs are also crazy busy. But I learned a lot, made a few business connections and even met Nate, my boyfriend. He’s going to school to be a cardiologist. Can you imagine, a surgeon and a cardiologist getting married, ha. Dinner time conversation will be all medical talk”, she proudly boasted.

“That’s cool, Shae. I’m happy you met someone and enjoyed your summer”, she said evenly.

“Yeah, when you know, you know. About med school and Nate, I mean. He’s just so...so perfect. And I thought doing it with you was great, it’s just amazing with him, with the real thing… too bad we never got to use these handcuffs”, she said excitedly. Nicole obviously missed the slight slur in her words and the glossy look in her eyes. She clearly had been drinking fairly recently.

“Excuse me?”, she asked highly bothered and confused.

“Oh, shit, sorry, Nicky. You know how I am when I drink. The words just flow right out of my mouth. I was referring to his -”, she was cut off.

“Yeahyeah! I got it Shae. I know what you were referring to. Like I said. I’m glad you found someone, but we really don’t need to talk about what you and I did or what you and him do now”, she said in a slightly harsh tone.

“Oh come on, Nicky. It’s just harmless fun. You remember all the fun we had together, right?” She said the last part in a softer, sweeter voice as her knee nudged Nicole’s. “You obviously aren’t getting any if this is making you uncomfortable”, she said in a snarky tone.

“I don’t think it’s an appropriate topic, Shae. I’m sure your boyfriend, who you seem to be planning a future with, wouldn’t appreciate you talking about things we did...in bed when we were together. I know...Waverly wouldn’t….”, she trailed off.

“So you’re back with Waverly”, she chuckled. It was more a statement than a question.

“Yeah, I am, we are, back together”, she said confidently and proudly.

“Guess I knew that was coming when you said you were going back home for the summer. Did...did you ever love me, Nicky? Or was I just something to do until you could figure out how to get Waverly back”, she asked seriously.

“Uh, I supposed a part of me loved you… as a friend and person. But I-I just couldn’t love you the way you wanted to me to. My heart has always belonged to Waverly. I-I’m sorry, Shae”. Her tone was honestly apologetic.

Shae had begun to sober up and her tone was becoming a bit more serious as they pulled up to the apartment style homes.

“It took me a while to get there, but it’s ok, Nicky, I forgave you. Waverly is a lucky girl to be loved so much by you. I can only hope that someday I will find true love like that”.

“What about Nate? You’re already planning your future with him”.

“He’s great, yeah. But I don’t know if it's love yet or just convenience. Our dads know each other and work together so it just seemed like a good idea to date. But who knows if it’ll really go anywhere serious”.

“You’ll find it Shae. You’re a great girlfriend and I’m sure one day you’ll be a great wife too.”

“Thanks, Nicky. You take care of yourself and Waverly. She..she’s a real sweetheart. I’ll see you around.”

“Thanks, Shae. You take care of yourself too.”

Shae departed with a soft kiss to the redhead’s cheek. Nicole watched her walk into the building before pulling out her phone to send a quick text.

Nic 10:36pm: Hey, baby. Just wanted to say I love you

Waves 10:38pm: I love you too, Nic. Everything ok?

Nic 10:39pm: Yeah, everything’s perfect : )

Waves 10:40pm: See you soon ; ) <3

Nic 10:41pm: See you soon, baby

Nicole drove off back toward the security office with a smile on her face. She knew her and Waverly were stronger now than they ever were. They weathered the biggest of storms together and although it was a bit bumpy for a while, they find their way back to each other in the end.

*****

The first year of college for Waverly and the 2nd year for Nicole was coming to an end. Nicole had successfully completed her academy training, graduating top of her class, and Waverly had completed her first year of teaching credentials. They had made it through the rest of the year, minus the Jessie troubles, unscathed in their relationship and stronger than ever.

They were headed into another summer where they planned to spend it in Purgatory. They had decided that Nicole would give up her single dorm room and Waverly would move out of her room and they would get place together off campus after the summer.

Nicole had talked to Nedley about coming back unpaid, however he offered her a part time job to get some experience and Waverly reached out to Purgatory High and was offered to come back to assist the teachers teaching summer school history; she'd work at Shorty's a couple nights a week for extra cash. Their summer was shaping up to be perfect. Getting head starts in their careers, spending the whole summer together and getting to see family daily couldn't make for a more perfect summer.

They had talked about where off campus they wanted to stay, if they wanted a 1 or 2 bedroom, if they wanted a pets, and how long they'd want to stay if they really liked the place. They talked about the possibility of Nicole getting a full time job as a police officer in the city and what that might mean for them and how they would navigate it. Ultimately, Nicole promised that wherever Waverly went, she'd go. She knew having graduated so high in her class she could get a job as on office almost anywhere and she decided when her Waverly got back together she wasn't going to lose her again, under any circumstances. 

After the last day of classes the girls packed up Nicole's car and Waverly's jeep with their things and headed to Purgatory for the summer.

Nicole worked at the Sheriff's Station 4 days a week, 6 hours a day and Waverly T.A'd at the high school Monday through Friday, 8am to 12pm. 

Most nights were spent Nicole's as her aunt and uncle were traveling for the summer, but the girls often stayed at Gus and Curtis's after dinner a couple nights a week. This arrangement gave them a great taste of what it would be like to live together, something they were both nervous and excited about.

Nicole was learning a ton of very helpful things under the wise teachings of Sheriff Nedley and Waverly learned she preferred high school over middle school as she spent one week with the 7th graders and absolutely hated it. It was the principal's idea as he thought it would be good for her to experience both groups of kids. She knew the 2nd day in middle school wasn't for her. 

The summer progressed with the girls steadily growing closer and stronger. They'd spend their time together talking about the future, when they weren't tangled up in exploring each other's bodies, and how they wanted it to look. Waverly had even gone as far as going back to the city with Gus to visit a jewelry store. A trip she made sure NOT to mention to Nicole.

A few weeks before they were set to return to school, and move into their new 2 bed, 2 bath place, they were just about to get lost in each other in Nicole’s room when Waverly shyly asked Nicole something she never thought she would.

While both girls lay in bed in tshirts and underwear, and with a gentle hand to Nicole's chest to stop the older girl from continuing to kiss along her neck, Waverly nervously asked, "hey, Nic, hang-hang on. Before we go any further, how do you feel-what would you think about-can we use-do you have the-um… do you want to try the str-strap on?", as her cheeks turned fire engine red and she ducked to hide her face in Nicole's neck.

"Wha-what? Really? Are-are you sure, Waves? I mean like really sure?", she asked both surprised and nervous. 

"Ye-yeah. I'm sure. I've been thinking about it for a while now. And I want us to be able to enjoy each other in lots of ways…even that way. And I’m not completely against it… I just want us to talk about it, together, first. So… do you want to..talk about using it?”

“Of course, baby!” she was a little too excited. “Sorry..whatever you need or want we can do. We can do this at your pace, in your time, whatever way you want to do it.”

“Um, do you still have it? Can-can I see it?”

Nicole moves off of Waverly and makes her way to her closet. She digs around the back of it before pulling out a medium sized black box with a lock.

She cautiously walks back over to the bed and sets the box down. She pulls a key out of the nightstand drawer and unlocks the box. Before she removes it from the box she double checks with the younger girl again. 

"Baby, are you sure? I don't even have to take it out of the box, we can just talk about using it if you want".

"N-no no, it's ok, I want to see it too".

"Ok", and the older girl removes the object from the box and lays it on the bed slowly. Its average size, about 6 to 6.5 inches long about 2.5 to 3 inches thick, purple with realistic ridges, a head and a even a subtle vein on the underside of it and slightly smaller cock on the opposite end.

"Wo-wow. Was-was that the one you used on me?", she said nervously. 

"Yeah, it is".

"Did ...did you use it with Sh..her?"

"No, I didn't. This is brand new. You're the only person whose touched it...besides me of course".

"You used it on yourself?", she said surprised. 

"Well yeah. I had to try it out on myself before I used it with you. I wanted to make sure it was comfortable for you".

"Oh, ok. Can-can I hold it?"

"Sure", the older girl says as she hands it over.

"Its kinda heavy… its smooth… so realistic… they all look so sim-". She stopped realizing this meant she was momentarily thinking about Champ. She noticed Nicole looking down when she started the sentence, he face dropped a bit.

"Sorry, I shouldn't have said anything", she tried to clean it up. "And this side goes...in-line you?"

"Clearing her throat the redhead responded yes.

"And everytime you… push it into me you feel it too?"

"Everytime, yup. What are you thinking?" This time noticing the wheels turning in the brunette's head.

"I-I want to try it again with you...now".

"Are you positive, baby? You know we don't have to. I love making love to you in any way."

"I love you, Nic. And I trust you. I want to try this with you… for real this time", she said nervously. 

"If you're sure, Waves. Last time you mentioned uh, you didn't seem to like that position… is there one you li-like?" Now Nicole was nervous. She hadn't been nervous up to this point but the thought of Waverly underneath while she was inside her, as exciting as she knew it would be, she was also a bit scared. Since she wasn't drunk this time she was more aware of Waverly. What if the strap on was too big and it hurt her. What if she wasn't enjoying it enough to her wet enough to keep it from hurting. What if she just found no pleasure in it because Nicole couldn't truly control it. She was nervous this would be a disaster for both of them.

Waverly noticed the strange look on her face and thought it best to check and see how she was doing.

"Hey, Nic, are you ok, what's going on in the head of yours?", she asked sweetly.

"Just...what if, what if you really just don't enjoy this? What if it hurts or I'm just not as good as I thought I was with it…", she said softly. 

"Well then we won't use it. Our sex had always been amazing with or without...toys. So if it's not any good we just don't use it again, ok? And how about we just start off with you on stop and we go slow…".

"Ok"

"Ok?"

With a soft, sweet smile the redhead replied, in a sigh of relief, "ok".

Nicole moved back off the bed and removed the black harness from the box laying it on the nightstand along with a ribbed for her pleasure condom and a bottle of lube.

Waverly quirked an eye at the two new items.

"The condom makes for easier clean up of it and the lube is extra, just in case", she said matter of factly, answering the question before Waverly could ask.

Waverly just nodded her head from her spot on the bed as she watched the older girl get set up. Once Nicole finished her set up she stopped and stepped on the side of the bed facing the brunette. Waverly turned to face her and sat up on her knees so she was almost face to face with the older girl. She wrapped her arms around her neck and shoulders and Nicole wrapped hers around Waverly's waist. 

"I trust you, baby. I want to do this... together", the younger girl said softly against plump red lips. She's getting excited, this feels like their first time all over again. The excitement and anticipation for what's to come.

Nicole closed the sliver of space between them and kissed the younger girl with deep passion. She slid her hands down to cup and squeeze toned, supple curves, earning a hungry moan from the younger girl. Their tongues moved together with the rhythm of a slow love song. Waverly's hands tangled in Nicole's hair slowly, but assertively. They both enjoyed the softness of the others tongue in their mouth; it felt like home.

They continued kissing vigorously as Nicole slowly backed away and reached for the harness. She didn't move for the toy just yet, she wanted to ease Waverly into that this time rather than just springing it on her. She continued kissing the younger girl as she reached for her tight t shirt to pull it over her head revealing her perky breasts and erect nipples. Waverly reached for her shirt in turn and pulled it over her head display supply breasts and hard pink nipples. She kicked her own boy shorts off then reached for Waverly's thong, sliding the soaked material down strong, tan thighs.

They'd had sex numerous times since getting back together but something about this time felt different. It oddly felt like they were coming full circle. There was heat and passion flowing between them like they hadn't felt since the first time they made love. Yes, they both remember that night as clear as day. It was hard to forget because it may have actually been Waverly's first time, Nicole secretly wished it was hers too. She wanted nothing more than for Waverly to be her first. She always said in her mind that Waverly was. The hook up she had the year before with her crush from middle school could easily be replaced by her first time with Waverly. The feeling of the younger girls fingers in her hair had her whole body tingling and warm, a sensation she melted into. Waverly felt safe, protected and more loved than she had felt since her junior year in high school. The connection between them in this moment was stronger than they ever imagined. 

They continued kissing as Nicole pulled the harness up her legs. Waverly was so into the kissing she didn't want to stop, even to allow the older girl to get prepared. Waverly's arm were still locked around the older girls shoulders as she slid the harness up. Once the harness was on and buckled, she slowly pulled out of the kiss to look the younger girl in the eye. She rested her hands on the younger girls hips as she rested hers on her shoulders, their foreheads touching, their lips a breath apart. 

"Its ok, Nic. You can put it on now. I'm ready", she said with a slightly nervous voice.

"Ok, baby". And she released her grip on the younger girl turned toward the nightstand and grabbed the toy, firmly securing it in the harness and easing it into herself. Her breath hitched at the penetration. She turned back around, the toy standing proud between her legs and the condom still in the wrapper tucked in the top of the harness. Waverly clearly swallowed loud and hard when she caught sight of the toy, a look Nicole had never seems graced her face; Nicole couldn't help but smile on the inside. She walked the few steps back toward Waverly and took her hands in her, holding her gaze searching for any sign of doubt.

Waverly smiled softly and crawled backwards on the bed, her eyes telling Nicole to follow. She climbed on the bed, toy bouncing against her stomach, and crawled toward Waverly. She settled between her legs and Waverly settled against the pillows. Waverly quickly pulled her in for a deep kiss, Nicole almost lost her balance and collapsed on the girl she was so caught off guard. She lost herself in the kiss, in Waverly's taste, the moans coming from the younger girl.

While continuing the kiss she moved her right hand down between their bodies until she felt soaked wetness. Waverly was dripping with arousal which in turn sparked Nicole's excitement. Nicole felt the younger girl thrust up, the telling sign she was ready and Nicole would deny her no longer.

She leaned up balancing herself on one elbow as she extracted the condom from the harness with her free hand. She ripped the packet open with her teeth, all while maintaining eye contact with an aroused yet slightly nervous looking Waverly, removed it and slid it on the toy. For some reason the scent of this condom didn't nauseate her like they others in the past. They both took deep steadying breaths as Nicole lined the toy up and pushed it in about an inch.

Waverly smiled when she felt warm nipples press against her own. She was also sure she could feel Nicole's heart pounding against her own chest. She looked in the older girls eyes, she could see nervousness and slight fear, she needed to say something to ease her nerves.

"Hey, Nic", removing her hands from strong shoulders to cupping the older girls cheeks, "I'm ok, baby. It...you feel really good", she whispered as she rolled her hips forward causing Nicole to clench with pleasure and the toy to slide deeper into her.

"Fuck, baby... Really? If-if you keep doing that I don't think I'll be able to last long", she choked out.

"Its ok, Nic. Just keep going...please…", she softly, almost pleadingly. The younger girl could already tell she was going to enjoy this, much to her own surprise… and delight.

For some reason the way she asked her to continue riled the older girl up more and she drove in deeper and found her rhythm. She didn't intend to go super slow, but it felt amazing going slow, she could almost feel Waverly's tightness gripping the toy on her end. She loved the faces and the little sounds coming from the girl underneath her. Waverly had wrapped her legs tighter around Nicole's waist as Nicole reached her left hand down to cup the younger girls right curve, squeezing firmly with each thrust. Her right hand and elbow rested near Waverly's head to help maintain her balance. She continued pumping inside the girl at a steady pace.

As she continued to thrust into the younger girl slowly, Waverly was loving the fact that she could feel everything. She shamefully thought, this is way better than it ever was with Champ, before returning her thoughts back to the woman making sweet, gentle love to her. She closed her eyes for a moment, to really soak up this moment. She was enjoying this way more than she thought she would. She opened her eyes to half closed, pleasure filled eyes above her. She, her body, was giving Nicole this exceptional pleasure. She smiled internally and moved her hands to Nicole's shoulders, from her sides, as the girl continued driving into her.

Nicole was beginning to sweat, but she loved it. She was also beginning to feel that familiar coil in her lower abdomen. She tried to ignore, she didn't want to come just yet. She wanted to enjoy being inside Waverly like this a bit longer. She slowed her strokes in hopes of staving off her orgasm just a little longer.

"Why-why are you slowing down?", the younger girl asked in a slightly irritated tone. She was flushed from how amazing it was feeling and she could feel herself getting closer and closer before the redhead abruptly slowed down.

Through a labored grunt she forced out, "Mmm, I'm sorry, baby. I know you're really enjoying this but I just don't want it to end yet. I just need a minute", she as she tried to catch her breath and compose herself. 

In a not so soft tone, the brunette retorted, "Nicole Rayleigh Haught! I was so close before you stopped. If you don't fuck me right now, I'm going to scream", as she dug her nails into the older girls shoulders emphasizing her frustration. "We can go for round two later, but right now I'd really like to come with you inside me, fucking me until I scream your name. Now, back inside and move...hard!", she sweetly, but aggressively said, completely taking Nicole by surprise.

"Well shit. Ok, Waverly. Whatever you say, baby", she said through a wry, slightly scared smile as she picked up her pace and started thrusting hard into the younger girl.

At first there were only the soft moans coming from the girls but once Waverly told Nicole to step it up the bed started to bang against the wall, Waverly got louder with 'yes's, harder baby's and faster baby's, Nicole with repeated 'fuck baby's' and the sound of skin meeting skin in stinging succession reverberated off the walls.

Nicole kept up her hard, fast pace as Waverly dug her nails further into her skin, no doubt causing bleeding as she climbed to her own climax. The wet slapping sounds of hips meeting thighs and the grunts, groans and moans from both could be heard throughout the room. The grip of her legs around the redhead's waist got tighter and Nicole got more and more winded, she was holding out for dear life until she felt the all too familiar hitch in the younger girl’s breathing signaling she was coming. She could finally let go after 15 minutes, which felt like 30, of what she was sure was feeling Waverly's tight center get tighter and squeezing the toy, she was sure she could feel it as if the toy was really an extension of her own body, she could let go and explode as the orgasm she had been fighting off since earlier was clawing at her to be released. 

Nicole couldn't help but think how Waverly was so against this after their first time trying it, to now where she was practically begging for it. She had to chuckle and assume, and hope, that it was because she was wearing the toy, it was because of the bond and connection they had, and because of the deeply committed love they had and have always had for one another.

Softly at first she barely whispered, "Nic, I'm-I'm coming". Quickly followed by a much louder, "Yes! Yes! Fuck, Niccc!!!", the younger girl shouted into the air as she clawed down Nicole's back.

Nicole was right behind her, burying her face in the younger girls neck as she hoarsely choked out, "Waverly... fuck, I'm coming!!", before her arms gave out from holding herself up and collapsing on top of the younger girl, panting for breath.

They laid there catching their breaths for a good 10 minutes before they finally spoke and moved.

“So that’s what I’ve been missing…”, Waverly sighed.

“Did you really enjoy it baby, cause ya’know… I couldn’t tell”, she joked.

“I did. I wish had been a little more open to it and enjoying it months ago, but better late than never right?”, said sweetly as she pulled the older girl in for a deep kiss.

Tangled in each other’s arms they eventually they drifted off to sleep, holding onto each other tightly. Both girls thought as they fell asleep, it wasn’t just because of they amazing sex they’d just had, but everything else, everything they had been through, that they realized they would be ok...they would be more than ok.

This first year for Waverly and second year of college for Nicole had come to an end, but who they would be as individuals, Waverly the teacher and Nicole the cop, and who they were as a couple, was only just beginning, and they were both beyond excited to see where their futures took them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All good things as in this story of the series ; )
> 
> Not sure when the next story of the series will be posted. Going back to work next week so time to write and post will be limited, but the idea behind won't be forgotten.
> 
> Thanks for all the love and feedback and hanging in there with me for this one, much appreciated!


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